 Twain by Joseph Keppler appeared on the back cover of PUCK, Dec. 23, 1885. From the Dave Thomson collection |
CHRONOLOGY OF KNOWN MARK TWAIN SPEECHES, PUBLIC READINGS, AND LECTURES |
Documenting all of Mark Twain's known public speeches, readings and lectures is a monumental undertaking first attempted by Paul Fatout in his classic volume MARK TWAIN SPEAKING published by University of Iowa Press, 1976. Fatout's listing has been updated at least once by noted Twain scholar Louis Budd in "A Supplement to 'A Chronology' in MARK TWAIN SPEAKING" published in Essays in Arts and Sciences, Vol. XXIX, October 2000, pp. 57-68. Various other scholars have attempted to document all the towns and cities Twain lectured in during his numerous lecture tours around the United States and the world. As more and more of Mark Twain's letters are published and more and more historical newspaper databases become searchable in digital format, it becomes increasingly apparent that no list of Twain's known speeches will likely be complete. While texts of some of Twain's major speeches do survive, many have never been recovered. For Twain's cross country and multiple continent lecture tours, he may have lectured on a particular topic but fine-tuned his speech or public readings to meet the needs of his particular locale. Many local reviews of Twain's appearances have been collected and are online at Stephen Railton's website at the University of Virginia. Many versions of one speech existed, but only one version may have been collected and published. The following index is a compilation of all known previously published lists currently available. It includes references to publications where texts of Twain's speeches can be found. Additional listings not in the collected edition of MARK TWAIN SPEAKING, or which are corrections to previously published sources, are by Barbara Schmidt and appear in red text. A bibliography of sources appears at the end of this document.
In December 2012 the Mark Twain Project at the University of California, Berkeley, published online an exhibit model featuring timelines and maps of some of these known speeches and lectures that occurred between 1866-1908 and included citations for historical newspaper reports for many speeches. That resource can be accessed at Mark Twain on the Platform.
1856
January 17 - Printers Banquet, Keokuk, Iowa - Impromptu remarks - text not available
See Fred W. Lorch, "Mark Twain in Iowa," Iowa Journal of History and Politics 27, no. 3 July 1929) pages 420-21; also mentioned in Mark Twain: A Biography, Vol. 1, by Albert Bigelow Paine, p. 107.
1863
July 8 - Collins House Opening, Virginia City, Nevada - Speech - text not available
A new hotel called for toasts, proposed by Tom Fitch, Rollin M. Daggett, Colonel Turner, Judge Ferris, and others. According to the next day's Virginia City Evening Bulletin, "Perhaps the speech of the evening was made by Sam Clemens. He almost brought the house to tears by his touching simple pathos."
October (?) - Eagle Fire Company Celebration, Virginia City, Nevada - Speech - text not available
November (?) - Meerschaum Pipe Presentation, Virginia City, Nevada - Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, at a convivial get together, several of Mark Twain's friends gave him a handsome, but fake, meerschaum pipe. Before discovering the hoax, he made an elaborate speech of thanks, which began, said Dan De Quille, "with the introduction of tobacco into England by Sir Walter Raleigh, and wound up with George Washington." See "Reporting With Mark Twain," California Illustrated, July 1893, pp. 170-78.
December 11 - Third House, Carson City, Nevada - Remarks as President - text not available
Unanimously elected president of the Third House, Mark Twain presided at a turbulent session, of which he wrote an exaggerated account for the Virginia Territorial Enterprise. See Mark Twain of the Enterprise, ed. Henry Nash Smith and Frederick Anderson (Berkeley, 1957) pages 102-10.
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/18631213t.html
1864
January 27 - Court House, Carson City, Nevada - "Third Annual Message" - text not available
See Mark Twain's description of the speech in his article to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.
June 12 - Maguire's Opera House, San Francisco, California - Presentation Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 1-2.
1866
October 2 - Maguire's Opera House, San Francisco, California - "Sandwich Islands"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
October 11 - November 27 - Lecture Tour in California and Nevada. "Sandwich Islands"
16 engagements. Partially managed by Denis McCarthy.
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
Also see Steve Railton's website at the University of Virginia for more details on this tour including map and reviews.
Towns and cities on the tour included:
October 11 - Sacramento, California
October 15 - Marysville, California
October 20 - Grass Valley, California
October 23 - Nevada City, California
October 24 - Red Dog, California
October 25 - You Bet, California
October 31 - Maguire's Opera House, Virginia City, Nevada
November 3 - Carson City, Nevada
November 7 - Washoe City, Nevada
November 8 - Dayton, Nevada
November 9 - Silver City, Nevada
November 10 - Gold Hill, Theatre, Gold Hill, Nevada (SLC was the victim of a robbery prank after this lecture)
November 16 - Platt's Hall, San Francisco, California
November 21 - Armory Hall, San Jose, California (location source is from San Francisco Bulletin, November 20, 1866, p. 5.)
November 26 - Petaluma, California
November 27 - College Hall, Twelfth Street, Oakland, California (location source is from San Francisco Bulletin, November 26, 1866, p. 5.)
December 10 - Congress Hall, San Francisco, California - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
1867
March 17 - Sunday School, Carondelet, St. Louis, Missouri - "Jim Smiley's Jumping Frog"
Mentioned in a letter to the San Francisco Alta California published May 19, 1867.
March 25 - April 9 - Midwest Lecture Tour: 5 engagements - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
Also see Steve Railton's website at the University of Virginia for more details of this tour including map.
March 25 - Mercantile Library Hall, St. Louis, Missouri
March 26 - Mercantile Library Hall, St. Louis, Missouri
April 2 - Brittingham Hall, Hannibal, Missouri
Brittingham Hall was better known as the Avery Burch Building. Built as an opera house and meeting hall in 1859 by the Brittingham Brothers who had a thriving drug store, the building had a rich history over the next century. It was used as a military hospital and possibly a prison during the Civil War.
April 8 - Chatham Sq. Methodist Church, Keokuk, Iowa
April 9 - National Hall, Quincy, Illinois
May 6 - Cooper Institute, New York City - "Sandwich Islands"
For more information on this appearance see "Frank Fuller, The American, Revisited," online at this site.
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
May 10 - Athenaeum, Brooklyn, New York - "Sandwich Islands"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
May 15 - Irving Hall, New York City - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
August 25 - Yalta, Russia - "Address to the Czar"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 18-19.
1868
January 9 - Metzerott Hall, Washington, D.C. "The Frozen Truth" - an account of the Quaker City voyage - only a partial text survives
The Washington Morning Chronicle, January 11, 1868 reported: "The subject of his remarks was the recent trip of a party of excursionists on the steamship Quaker City to Europe and points on the Mediterranean, and his descriptions were replete with sparkling wit, to which his slow, deliberate style of speaking gave a peculiar charm." The complete text of a review in the Washington Star of January 10 is reprinted in Fred Lorch's The Trouble Begins at Eight, pp. 71-73.
January 11 - Newspaper Correspondents Dinner, Welcker's Restaurtant, Washington, D. C - "Woman"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 20-21.
For Mark Twain's comments on this speech, see his letters from Washington published in the Alta, January 28, 1868 and February 19, 1868.
February 14 - Society of Good Fellows, Washington, D. C."Woman," revised - no complete surviving text has been found
Mentioned in a letter Twain wrote to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise and published on March 7, 1868.
February 22 - Ladies' Union Benevolent Society, Forrest Hall, Georgetown (Washington, DC) - "Sandwich Islands" - with some variations.
See Lorch's The Trouble Begins at Eight, p. 73 and Fatout's Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit, p. 86.
March (?) - S.S. Sacramento, at sea. "Charade" - text not available
April 6 - Literary Society of Rev. Charles Wadsworth's Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, California - Informal speech - text not available
See Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2, 1867-1868, p. 206.
April 9 - Methodist Episcopal Church, Oakland, California - text not available
See Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2, 1867-1868, p. 206.
April 14 and 15 - Platt's Hall, San Francisco, California - "The Frozen Truth" - an account of the Quaker City voyage - only a partial text survives
April 17 - 29 - Lecture Tour, California and Nevada: at least 7 engagements - "Pilgrim Life"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 23-24.
Also see Steve Railton's website at the University of Virginia for more details of this tour including map and publicity.
April 17 - Metropolitan Theater, Sacramento, California
April 18 - Marysville, California
April 20 - Nevada City, California
April 21 - Grass Valley, California
April 27 and 28 - Piper's Opera House, Virginia City, Nevada
April 29 - Carson City, Nevada
April 30 - School Benefit, Carson City, Nevada - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
July 2 - Mercantile Library, San Francisco, California - "Venice, Past and Present" - no surviving complete text
Partial text, the introduction, published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 25-26. Summary from the Alta California reprinted in Lorch's The Trouble Begins at Eight, p. 83.
July 10 - S.S. Montana, at sea. "Composition--the Cow" - text not available
The shipboard program was called "Country School Exhibition." See Mark Twain's letter to the Alta California, September 6, 1868.
November 17 - March 3, 1869 Eastern Lecture Tour: at least 43 engagements - "The American Vandal Abroad"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 27-36.
Also see Steve Railton's website at the University of Virginia for more details of this tour including map.
Partially managed by G. L. Torbert and by Clemens himself, the following cities were on the Eastern Lecture Tour:
November 17 - Case Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
November 19 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
November 23 - Opera House, Elmira, New York
December 2 - Washington Hall, Rondout, New York
December 9 - Opera House, Newark, New Jersey
December 11 - Norwich, New York
December 16 - Scranton, Pennsylvania
December 19 - Fort Plain, New York
December 22 - Young Men's Hall, Detroit, Michigan
December 23 - Lansing, Michigan
December 25 - Charlotte, Michigan
December 26 - Tecumseh, Michigan
December 30 - Methodist Church, Akron, Ohio
1869
January 2 - Hamilton's Hall, Fort Wayne, Indiana
January 4 - The Metropolitan, Indianapolis, Indiana
January 6 - Brown's Hall, Rockford, Illinois
January 7 - Library Hall, Chicago, Illinois
January 8 - Hardin's Hall, Monmouth, Illinois
January 9 - Galesburg, Illinois
January 11 - Rouse's Opera House, Peoria, Illinois
January 12 - Powers' Hall, Decatur, Illinois
January 13 - Methodist Episcopal Church, Ottawa, Illinois
January 14 - Burtis Opera House, Davenport, Iowa
January 15 - Metropolitan Hall, Iowa City, Iowa
January 20 - White's Hall, Toledo, Ohio
January 21 - Whittlesey Hall, Norwalk, OhioJanuary 22 - Protestant Orphan Asylum Benefit, Case Hall, Cleveland, Ohio - "The American Vandal Abroad"
Plus concluding remarks published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 37-38.January 25 - Academy of Music, Marshall, Michigan
January 26 - Batavia, Illinois
January 27 - Fry's Hall, Freeport, Illinois
January 28 - Russell Hall, Waterloo, Iowa
January 29 - Bench St. Methodist Church, Galena, Illinois
February 1 - Strawn's Hall, Jacksonville, Illinois
February 13 - Ravenna, Ohio
February 15 - Alliance, Ohio
February 16 - Corinthian Hall, Titusville, Pennsylvania
February 17 - Franklin, Pennsylvania
February 23 - Taylor Hall, Trenton, New Jersey
February 25 - Stuyvesant, New York
March 1 - Concert Hall, Geneseo, New York
March 3 - Arcade Hall, Lockport, New York
March 16 - Newtown, New York
March 20 - Sharon, Pennsylvania
June 5 - Press Club Dinner, New York City - "Reliable Contraband"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 38-40.
November 1 - January 21, 1870 Lecture Tour: At least 49 engagements - "Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
Also see Steve Railton's web site at the University of Virginia for more details on on this tour.
Under the management of James Redpath, the following cities were on the tour:
November 1 - Academy of Music, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
November 9 - Harrington's Opera House, Providence, Rhode Island
November 10 - Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
November 11 - Trinity Church, Charlestown, Massachusetts
November 13 - Norwich, Connecticut
November 15 - Clinton Hall, Clinton, Massachusetts
November 16 - Holyoke, Massachusetts
November 17 - Gothic Hall, Danvers, Massachusetts
November 19 - Town Hall, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
November 23 - Allyn Hall, Hartford, Connecticut
November 26 - Unidentified town (mentioned in a letter from SLC to Olivia Clemens)
November 29 - Congregational Church, Newtonville, Massachusetts
November 30 - Thompsonville, Connecticut
December 1 - Brooklyn Library Society, Brooklyn, New York
December 3 - Collingwood's Opera House, Poughkeepsie, New York
December 6 - Beecher's Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, New York
December 7 - Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 8 - Lincoln Hall, Washington, D. C.
December 9 - Germantown, Pennsylvania
December 10 - Methodist Church, Mount Vernon, New York
December 11 - Town Hall, West Meriden, Connecticut
December 13 - Union Hall, New Britain, Connecticut
December 14 - Warren, Massachusetts
December 15 - Armory Hall, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
December 16 - Rumford Institute, Waltham, Massachusetts
December 20 - Canton, Massachusetts
December 21 - Hudson, Massachusetts
December 22 - Mercantile Library, Portland, Maine
December 23 - Town Hall, Rockport, Massachusetts
December 24 - Slatersville, Rhode Island
December 27 - Music Hall, New Haven, Connecticut
December 28 - Taylor Hall, Trenton, New Jersey
December 29 - Opera House, Newark, New Jersey
December 30 - Landmesser Hall, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
December 31 - Opera House, Williamsport, Pennsylvania
1870
January 4 - Wilson Hall, Oswego, New York
January 6 - Amenia, New York
January 7 - Egberts Hall, Cohoes, New York
January 10 - Tweddle Hall, Albany, New York
January 11 - Union Place Hall, West Troy, New York
January 12 - Rondout, New York
January 13 - Hubbard Hall, Cambridge, New York
January 14 - Mechanic's Hall, Utica, New York
January 15 - Doolittle Hall , Oswego, New York
January 17 - First Methodist Church, Baldwinsville, New York
January 18 - Ogdensburg, New York
January 19 - Normal School Chapel, Fredonia, New York
January 20 - Hornell Library, Hornellsville, New York
January 21 - Institute Hall, Jamestown, New York
From Budd's update:
June 23 - Female Academy, Buffalo, New York - Commencement Exercises Speech.
See Mark Twain at the "Buffalo Express" ed. McCullough and McIntire-Strasburg, pp. 211-115. Text states Clemens wrote the speech but it was read by David Gray.
1871
October 16 - February 27, 1872, Lecture tour, at least 77 engagements included three different speeches.
Also see Steve Railton's web site at the University of Virginia for more details on this tour including map, ads and reviews.
Under the management of James Redpath, the following cities were on the tour:
October 16 - Moravian Day School Hall, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. "Uncommonplace Characters" - text not available
October 17 - Opera House, Allentown, Pennsylvania. "Uncommonplace Characters" - text not available
October 18 - Music Hall, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. "Uncommonplace Characters" - text not availableOctober 23 - Lincoln Hall, Washington, D. C. - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
October 24 - Institute Hall, Wilmington, Delaware - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
October 25 - Odd Fellows Hall, Norristown, Pennsylvania - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
October 27 - Sumner Hall, Great Barrington, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
October 30 - Brattleboro, Vermont - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
October 31 - Milford, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 1 - Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 2 - Town Hall, Exeter, New Hampshire - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 3 - Andover, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 6 - Town Hall, Malden, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 8 - Allyn Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 9 - Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 10 - Stetson Hall, Randolph, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.November 11 - Boston, Massachusetts, Boston Press Club - Speech summarized in Providence (RI) Evening Press, November 14, 1871, p. 3, "Letter From Boston / The Press Club Dinner.". Content described is largely from the "Roughing It" lecture. Newspaper article recovered by Leslie Myrick of the Mark Twain Project at Berkeley.
November 13 - Mechanic's Hall, Boston, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 14 - Smyth's Hall, Manchester, New Hampshire - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 15 - City Hall, Haverhill, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 16 - City Hall, Portland, Maine - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 17 - Huntington Hall, Lowell, Massachusetts - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 20 - Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 21 - Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 22 - Washington Hall, Roundout, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 23 - Court House, Easton, Pennsylvania - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 24 - Keystone Opera House, Reading, Pennsylvania - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 27 - Bennington, Vermont - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 28 - Tweddle Hall, Albany, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
November 29 - Opera House, Newark, New Jersey - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 1 - Doolittle Hall, Oswego, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 2 - Barber Hall, Homer, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 4 - Linden Hall, Geneva, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 5 - Academy of Music, Auburn, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 6 - Wieting Opera House, Syracuse, New York - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.December 7 - Sprague's Hall, Warsaw, New York - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
December 8 - Union Hall, Fredonia, New York - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.December 9 - Farrar Hall, Erie, Pennsylvania - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 11 - White's Hall, Toledo, Ohio - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 12 - University Hall, Ann Arbor, Michigan - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 13 - Union Hall, Jackson, Michigan - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.December 14 - Mead's Hall, Lansing, Michigan - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
December 15 - Luce's Hall, Grand Rapids, Michigan - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
December 16 - Union Hall, Kalamazoo, Michigan - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
December 18 - Michigan Avenue Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
December 19 - Union Park Congregational Church, Chicago, Illinois - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.December 20 - Sandwich, Illinois - Topic unknown - text not available
December 21 - City Hall, Aurora, Illinois - Topic unknown - text not availableDecember 22 - Patterson Hall, Princeton, Illinois - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 26 - Barrett Hall, Champaign, Illinois - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
December 27 - Tuscola, Illinois - "Artemus Ward" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 41-47.
See Mark Twain's Letters: Volume 4 (1870-1871) p. 525: "Lectured on Ward tonight."December 28 - Lincoln Hall, Danville, Illinois - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
December 29 - Mattoon, Illinois - Topic unknown - text not available
December 30 - Paris, Illinois - Topic unknown - text not available
1872
January 1 - Association Hall, Indianapolis, Indiana - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 2 - Opera House, Logansport, Indiana - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 3 - Richmond, Indiana - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 4 - Music Hall, Dayton, Ohio - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 5 - Opera House, Columbus, Ohio - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 6 - Arcadome Hall, Wooster, Ohio - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 8 - Concert Hall, Salem, Ohio - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 9 - Gray and Garrett's Hall, Steubenville, Ohio - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 10 - Washington Hall, Wheeling, West Virginia - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 11 - Mercantile Library Hall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 12 - Kittanning, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 16 - Opera House, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 17 - Milton, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 18 - Court House, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 19 - Fulton Opera House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 22 - Old Methodist Church, Carlisle, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 23 - Maryland Institute, Baltimore, Maryland - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 24 - Steinway Hall, New York, New York - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 29 - Klein's Opera House, Scranton, Pennsylvania - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 30 - The Tabernacle, Jersey City, New Jersey - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 31 - Opera House, Paterson, New Jersey - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
February 1 - Rand's Hall, Troy, New York - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
February 21 - Opera House, Danbury, Connecticut - "Roughing It" - One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
February 23 - The Aldine Dinner, St. James Hotel, New York City - Dinner Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 65-68.
From Budd's update:
Mark Twain's Letters: Volume 5 (1872-1873), pp. 47-48 gives sources for other texts. Also, the Chicago Tribune, 2 March 1872, p. 5, gives a long text.
February 27 - College Hall, Amherst, Massachusetts - "Roughing It"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
September 6 - Whitefriars Club, London, England - Dinner Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 72-73.
September 21 - Savage Club, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 69-71.
September 28 Sheriffs Dinner, Guildhall, London - Response to a toast "Success to Literature" - text not available
The dinner was given by the new sheriffs of London to the city guilds and liverymen. When one of the sheriffs proposed the health of Mark Twain, he was applauded, then responded to the toast. The London Times, September 30, 1872, called it "an amusing speech." See Love Letters of Mark Twain, edited by Dixon Wecter (Harper & Bros., 1949), pp.178-79.
1873
January 31 - Benefit for Father Hawley, Allyn Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - "Sandwich Islands"
In a letter to the Hartford Courant, January 29, 1873, Mark Twain said that charity is "a dignified and respectworthy thing, and there is small merit about it and less grace when it don't cost anything. We would like to have a thousand dollars in the house; we point to the snow and the thermometer; we call Hartford by name, and we are not much afraid but that she will step to the front and answer for herself.... I am thoroughly and cheerfully willing to lecture here for such an object, though I would have serious objections to talking in my own town for the benefit of my own pocket--we freebooters of the platform consider it more graceful to fly the black flag in strange waters and prey upon remote and friendless communities." All services having been donated, the benefit netted $1,500 for Father Hawley.
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
February 1 - Lotos Club, New York City - Speech
Remarks summarized in Mark Twain's Letters, Vol. 5, p. 292 which references text from John Elderkin, A Brief History of the Lotos Club (New York: Club House, 1895), pp. 15-16 for a page summary.
February 5 - Steinway Hall, New York City - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
Review in The New York Times.
February 7 - Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
February 10 - Steinway Hall, New York City - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
February 13 - Jersey City, New Jersey - "Sandwich Islands"
One version of this speech is published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
Mentioned in Mark Twain's Letters, Vol. 5, p. 295.
March 31 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - "License of the Press"
Published in Mark Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, & Essays, edited by Louis J. Budd, (Library of America: 1992), pp. 551-555.
July 4 - Meeting of Americans, London, England - Dinner Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 74-76.
Lectures arranged under the management of George Dolby:
October 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 - Queen's Concert Rooms, Hanover Square, London, England - "Sandwich Islands"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
October 20 - Liverpool Institute, Liverpool, England - "Sandwich Islands"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
November 29 - St. Andrew's Society, Salutation Tavern, London, England - "The Guests"
Published in Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 5, 1872-1873, p. 491.
Also in Hartford Daily Courant, "Mark Twain on Scotland," December 20, 1873, p. 2.
Lectures arranged under the management of George Dolby:
December 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - Queen's Concert Rooms, Hanover Square, London, England - "Sandwich Islands"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
December 1 - Scottish Corporation, London, England - "The Ladies"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 78-80.
Lectures arranged under the management of George Dolby:
December 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 - Queen's Concert Rooms, London, England - "Roughing It"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
December 12 - Scotch Morayshire Dinner, London, England - Dinner Speech - "The Visitors" - text not available
Paraphrased in Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 5, 1872-1873, p 509-510.
December 22 - Small gathering, London, England. Dinner Speech - short remarks
Paraphrased in Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 5, 1872-1873, p 526.
1874
January 8 - Leicester, England - "Roughing It" - Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 9 - Liverpool Institute, Liverpool, England - "Roughing It" - Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
January 10 - Liverpool Institute, Liverpool, England - "Sandwich Islands" and "Jumping Frog"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 4-15.
February 16 - Wilkie Collins Dinner, Boston, Massachusetts - Dinner Speech. - text not available
The Boston Transcript said, February 17, 1874: "Mark Twain gave a brief description of his reception in England, saying that he was very successful in the object of his visit there, which was to teach people good morals, and to introduce some of the improvements of the present century."
February 17 - Tremont Temple, Boston, Massachusetts - Introducing Charles Kingsley.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 83-83. Misidentified and misdated by Fatout as taking place in Salem, Massachusetts on February 14.
February 17 - Massachusetts Press Association Dinner, Boston, Massachusetts - Dinner Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 85-87.
March 5 - Horticultural Hall, Boston, Massachusetts - "Roughing It"
See Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 6, p. 58, 60 for press comments.
September 16 - Opening of the play The Gilded Age, Park Theatre, New York City - Curtain Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 87-89.
October 12 - Insurance Men's Banquet for Cornelius Walford, Allyn House, Hartford, Connecticut - Dinner Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 89-91.
December 15 - Atlantic Dinner, Boston, Massachusetts. Dinner Speech - text not available
Howells was toastmaster, and among those present were Aldrich, Holmes, George Cary Eggleston, and Henry James. The Boston Transcript, December 16, 1874, calling Mark Twain's speech one of the brightest of the evening, summarized his remarks: "once when sailing on the blue Mediterranean ... he tried to give the impression that he was a poet. He said no one believed him, and after repeated protestations he rashly laid a wager of ten to one that he could get a poem printed in the Atlantic. The poem was forwarded from Gibraltar, the bet was ten dollars to a hundred, which accounts, Mark said, for the fact that he had only three dollars in his pocket when he reached here. A subsequent anecdote related by him and Mr. Osgood jointly, proved that Mark was more at home in a game called 'euchre' than in poetry, and Mr. Osgood assured the company that it was not a safe practice to play cards with Mark Twain." See Arthur Gilman, "Atlantic Dinners and Diners," Atlantic Monthly 100, no. 5 (November 1907) pp. 646-67.
December 23 - One hundredth performance of The Gilded Age, Park Theatre, New York City - Curtain Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 92-93.
Also in The New York Times, December 24, 1874
1875
February 15 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - "Universal Suffrage"
For a portion of the text see Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain: A Biography, p. 541.
March 5 - For Father David Hawley, Roberts' Opera House, Hartford, Connecticut - "Roughing It"
One version of this speech published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 48-63.
April 7 - Connecticut Retreat for the Insane, Washington Street, Hartford, Connecticut - "Roughing It"
Icon notes for this speech published in Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 6, p. 405.
May 12 - Asylum Hill Church, Hartford, Connecticut - Introducing Spelling Match.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 94-96.
Also:"Mark Twain's Spelling Match Speech," by Harriet Elinor Smith and Michael B. Frank,
The Southern Quarterly, A Journal of the Arts in the South, Volume 41, Number 1, Fall 2002, pages 5-9.
From Budd's update:
Mid-August - Castle Hill, Newport, Rhode Island, Town and Country Club picnic - Speech - text not available
See John Roche, "Mark Twain in Newport," Mark Twain Journal, 25 (Fall 1987) 23-27.
From Budd's update:
August 23 - Bellevue Dramatic Group, Opera House Newport, Rhode Island - readings "How I Edited an Agriculture Paper" and from Roughing It
See John Roche, "Mark Twain in Newport," Mark Twain Journal, 25 (Fall 1987) 23-27.
November 12 - Dramatic Association Speech, Hartford, Connecticut - paraphrase available
This speech was paraphrased in the Hartford Courant, 13 November 1875, p. 2.
See Mark Twain's Letters, vol. 6, 1874 - 1875, p. 590.
<http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=letters/MTLN00142.xml;style=letter;brand=mtp>
December 21 - Asylum Hill Church, Hartford, Connecticut - Readings - text not available
The Hartford Courant of Thursday, December 16, 1875, p. 1 in an article titled "Christ Church Choir and Mark Twain" reported that Twain had agreed to give some readings for benevolence on the following Tuesday..
1876
January 24 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut"
The following March 1876 lectures were to benefit John Brown, a friend--the Edinburgh author and physician whom the Clemenses had met in 1873. Brown's friends were quietly raising a fund that would enable him to retire from the stresses of his medical practice:
March 22 - Kent Club, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut - "Roughing It"
See SLC to James Redpath, 17 March 1876., Hartford, Conn. (UCCL 01314), n. 1. 2007. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=letters/UCCL01314.xml;style=letter;brand=mtp#an1>
March 28 and 29 - Chickering Hall, New York, NY - "Roughing It"
See SLC to James Redpath, 17 March 1876., Hartford, Conn. (UCCL 01314), n. 2. 2007. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=letters/UCCL01314.xml;style=letter;brand=mtp#an2>
March 30 - Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York - "Roughing It in the Land of the Big Bonanza"
Reported in Brooklyn Eagle, March 31, 1876, p. 3
The newspaper stated the lecture was at 1:30 pm and the audience was small. Agent Redpath came out before Twain appeared and asked the audience to move closer to the better seats in the parquette.
See SLC to James Redpath, 17 March 1876., Hartford, Conn. (UCCL 01314), n. 2. 2007. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=letters/UCCL01314.xml;style=letter;brand=mtp#an2>
March 30 - New York Press Club, New York - recitation, probably "Roughing It"
Reported in Boston Globe, March 31, 1876, p. 5
March 31 - Chickering Hall, New York, NY - "Roughing It"
See SLC to James Redpath, 17 March 1876., Hartford, Conn. (UCCL 01314), n. 2. 2007. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=letters/UCCL01314.xml;style=letter;brand=mtp#an2>
April 26 & 27 - Dramatic Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - performance in role of Peter Spyk in the play "Loan of a Lover" - text not available
See Mark Twain's Letters, 1876-1880, An Electronic Edition, Volume 1: 1876, 28 April 1876 to William Franklin, 4 May 1876 to Augustin Daly, and 5 May 1876 to Moncure Conway which indicates that Twain "rewrote the part." Also see two articles in Hartford Daily Courant dated April 27, p. 2 "The Amateur Theatricals" and April 28, p. 2 "The Amateur Stage."
July 1 - Congress of Authors, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Reading "Francis Lightfoot Lee of Virginia"
See Mark Twain's Letters, 1876-1880, An Electronic Edition, Volume 1: 1876, Letter 23 February 23, 1876 to Frank Etting and 24 June 1876 to William S. Stokley
September 30 - Political Meeting, Hartford, Connecticut - Speech on Rutherford B. Hayes.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 97-99.
November 13 - Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York - Readings
Mark Twain read "The McWilliamses and the Membranous Croup," "My Late Senatorial Secretaryship," and "Encounter With an Interviewer." Also on the program were Emma Thursby, a well-known operatic soprano, and a group of singers called the Young Apollo Club.
From Budd's update:
November 14 - Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Reading
Highly similar to November 13 performance in Brooklyn. See advertisements in Philadelphia Public Ledger, 13 and 14 November, p. 1.
November 21 - Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts - Readings
Highly similar to November 13 performance in Brooklyn.
See Boston Daily Globe, "The Mark Twain Combination," November 20, 1876, p. 5
See Boston Daily Globe, "On the Platform," November 22, 1876, p. 8
November 22 - Academy of Music, Chelsea, Massachusetts - Readings
Highly similar to November 13 performance in Brooklyn.
November 24 - Providence, Rhode Island - Readings
Highly similar to November 13 performance in Brooklyn, New York.
December 14 - Union's Fair, Hartford, Connecticut - Auctioneer for sale of Jabberwocks - stories
Reported in the Hartford Courant, December 14, 1876, p. 2, "The Sale of the Jabberwocks." The article reported as follows: The remarkable collection of subterranean creatures, known as the Jabberwocks, now on exhibition at the Union's fair, are to be sold at auction this evening by Mark Twain as auctioneer. They were found underground and recognized almost by accident, it must have been, at first, but now that their identity is made known, they are evidently what they are. Mr. Clemens will explain the history of the "Beamish Boy Galumping Home," afford an opportunity to secure the "Momerath Outgrubing," and the "Slithy Tove upon a Tumtum Tree," and suggest points in the biography of the "Freemious Bandersnatch," and so forth. The Mud March Hare and the Mock Turtle that wept to think it was not a real turtle may also be had for a price.
December 22 - New England Society Dinner, New York City - "The Weather"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 100-103.
Ca. 1876
Asylum Hill Church, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
1877
January 26 - Mission Circle, Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, Connecticut - Auctioneer - Stories - text not available
The Hartford Daily Courant of January 25, 1877, p. 2 in an article titled "A Package Party" reported the entertainment would depend upon the auctioneer and that Mark Twain was scheduled to officiate in that capacity.
From Budd's update:
February 6 - Press Club, Steinway Hall, New York City - Readings - "Encounter with an Interviewer" and "Dueling Experiences"
The New York Times of February 7, p. 5 reported he read "Encounter with an Interviewer" and his "Dueling Experiences," which kept the audience in constant laughter. The New York Tribune of the same date, p. 8 also reported on the speech.
March 26 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - "Advantages of Travel" - text not available
July 31 - Opening of Ah Sin, Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York City - Curtain Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 103-105.
October 2 - Putnam Phalanx Dinner, Hartford, Connecticut - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 106-109.
Also reported in The New York Times, October 7, 1877
December 12 - Seminary Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Introducing William Dean Howells
Howells was appearing on the Seminary Hall Lecture Course. Of Mark Twain's introduction, the Hartford Times, December 13, 1877, gives a fragment: "The gentleman who is now to address you is the editor of the Atlantic Monthly. He has a reputation in the literary world which I need not say anything about. I am only here to back up his moral character."
December 17 - John G. Whittier Birthday Dinner, Hotel Brunswick, Boston, Massachusetts - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 110-114.
1878
January 26 - Geselischaft Harmonic, New York City - Speech - text not available
February 25 - Press Club, New York City - Speech - text not available
April 4 - Bayard Taylor Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 116-118.
July 4 - Anglo-American Club, Heidelberg - German-English Speech.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 116-118.
November 30 - Artists Club, Munich, Germany - Speech or Story - text not available
In Notebook 13, October 13, 1878 - January 1879, MTP, Mark Twain comments briefly on this "blowout" for Toby Rosenthal, American expatriate painter, chiefly on the speech of Consul Horstmann, who interpolated rhymed doggerel, each stanza ending with "Toby Rosenthal.
December 31 - American Artists Club, Munich, Germany - Reading - "The Invalid's Story"
A letter from SLC to Joseph Twichell dated 26 January 1879 mentions giving the narrative about the Limburger cheese and a box of guns.
See Mark Twain's Letters, 1876-1880, An Electronic Edition, Volume 4: 1879.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 122-124.
1879
March 31 - Stanley Club Dinner, Paris - Reading - "The Invalid's Story"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 122-124.
Spring - Stomach Club, Paris - "Some Thoughts on the Science of Onanism"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 125-127.
October 16 - Introducing General Hawley, Republican Meeting, Elmira, New York - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 128-129.
From Budd:
A text closer to the event is in Elmira Daily Advertiser, rpt. in Mark Twain in Elmira, ed. Robert D. Jerome and Herbert A. Wisbey, Jr., pp. 75-77.
November 12 - Army of the Tennessee Reunion, Haverly's Theatre, Chicago, Illinois - Impromptu remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 130.
November 13 - Army of the Tennessee Reunion Banquet, Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois - "The Babies"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 131-133.
November 14 - Founding of Press Club, Chicago, Illinois - Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, a letter from A. L. Hardy to Mark Twain, MTP, says that after the reunion banquet at the Palmer House, about fifty men gathered in the underground cafe of Captain Jim Simms on Clark Street. There were sandwiches, wurst, pretzels, beer, ale, Scotch, and a great deal of talk, Mark Twain acting as a sort of chairman at the head of the table. By dawn only seven remained. A note scrawled on the letter by Mark Twain, evidently one of the stayers, says that the Chicago Press Club was founded that night about seven in the morning.
November 14 - Breakfast for Mark Twain, Chicago, Illinois - Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, the menu, MTP, says that this breakfast was tendered "By a few Chicago journalists," that the time was 12 noon, and that the bill of fare was: Fruit, Oysters on shell, Broiled Salmon Chateaubriand, with Champignons; French Fried Potatoes, Calves' Sweetbreads with French Peas, Spanish Omelette, Cutlets of Chicken, cream sauce; Broiled Quail on Toast, French Coffee, Cognac.
November 30 - Decorative Art Society, home of Mrs. Samuel Colt, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - text not available
November 30 - Saturday Morning Club, Hartford, Connecticut - "Plagiarism"
December 3 - Atlantic Monthly Breakfast for Oliver Wendall Holmes, Boston, Massachusetts - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 134-136.
1880
April 2 - unidentified function, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - text not available
Mentioned in a letter from SLC to Orion Clemens, April 4, 1880
Mark Twain's Letters, Electronic Edition, Volume 5
April 5 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "Decay of the Art of Lying"
April 26 - Private reading, Hartford, Connecticut - "A Telephonic Conversation"
Mentioned without name in a letter from SLC to William Dean Howells, April 23, 1880
Mark Twain's Letters, Electronic Edition, Volume 5
June 5 - Grand Bazar for Union for Home Work, Hartford, Connecticut - Auctioneer for sale of Jabberwocks - stories
The Hartford Daily Courant of June 7, 1880, p. 2 in a story titled "The Bazar" reported that Mr. Clemens "after successfully disposing of a number of articles in Booth J. generously offered to dispose of the booth itself and all the people in it, including himself, but as no satisfactory offers were made the lot was withdrawn."
October 16 - Hartford, Connecticut - Welcome to General Grant
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 136-138.
October 26 - Hartford Opera House, Republican Rally, Hartford, Connecticut - Political Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 138-144.
bef. October 29 - German Republican Meeting, Second ward, Hawley Club room, Hartford, Connecticut - Speech - text not available
The Hartford Daily Courant of October 29, 1880, p. 2 in an article titled "German Republican Meeting" reported that President Maerklein presided at the meeting. Judge Sherman Adams spoke in German; Mr. George H. Woods spoke in English; and "the principal speaker of the evening was Mark Twain, who made a capital speech in German, interspersed with American, which was received with great favor, eliciting frequent demonstrations of approval."
November 2 - Hartford Opera House, Republican Jollification, Hartford, Connecticut - "Funeral Oration"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 146-147.
November 6 - Middlesex Club, Boston, Massachusetts - Speech - "Abou Bill Barnum"
December 10 - Opera House, Hartford, Connecticut - Introducing Robert Burdette - text not available
Robert Burdette of the Burlington Hawkeye was introduced by Mark Twain according to a report in the Hartford Daily Courant. In the Courant article of December 11, 1880, p. 1 titled "Burdette's Lecture" it was reported that "He was introduced by Mr. Clemens, in a few complimentary words, as one whose wit was without bitterness and whose much quoted paragraphs had a manly and honest ring."
December 20 - Tile Club, Francis Hopkinson Smith Studio, New York City - Speech or Stories - text not available
1881
February 24 - Papyrus Club Dinner, Revere House, Boston, Massachusetts - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 148-150.
February 25 - Twichell's Chapel, Hartford, Massachusetts - "Tar Baby" - text not available
Mentioned in letter from Joseph Twichell to SLC, February 16, 1881
Mentioned in a letter from SLC to William Dean Howells, February 21, 1881
Mark Twain-Howells Letters, Volume 1, edited by Henry Nash Smith and William M. Gibson, Belknap Press, 1960, p. 356.
The Letters of Mark Twain and Joseph Hopkins Twichell, edited by Harold K. Bush, Steve Courtney, and Peter Messent, 2017, p. 104.
February 28 - West Point, New York. Readings - "Clarence and Eugene," "How I Escaped Being Killed in a Duel," "Cure for Stammering"
See Philip Leon's Mark Twain and West Point, ECW Press, 1996.
March 10 - Negro Church (Talcott Street Church?), Hartford, Connecticut. Readings - "Tar Baby" - text not available.
Mentioned in a letter from SLC to William Dean Howells, February 21, 1881
Mark Twain-Howells Letters, Volume 1, edited by Henry Nash Smith and William M. Gibson, Belknap Press, 1960, p. 356.
June 8 - Army of the Potomac Banquet, Allyn House, Hartford, Connecticut - "The Benefit of Judicious Training"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 151-154.
November 17 - Introducing Archibald Forbes, Allyn House, Hartford, Connecticut - Introductory Speech
Published in Hartford Daily Courant, November 18, 1881, p. 2, "The War Correspondent"
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Forbes.html
November 21 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "Phrenography" - text not available
December 8 - Dinner for Mark Twain, Windsor Hotel, Montreal, Canada - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 157-160.
December 22 - New England Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 162-165.
1882
January 31 - Frechette Dinner, Holyoke, Massachusetts - "On After-Dinner Speaking"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 166-168.
February 24 - Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - text not available
Reported in Hartford Daily Courant, February 25, 1882, p. 3, "Additional City News"
April 15 - Saturday Morning Club, Boston, Massachusetts. Reading - "Advice to Youth"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 169-171.
October 19 - Allyn Hall, Reception for Worcester Continentals, Hartford, Connecticut - Speech - "City of Hartford"
Published in Hartford Daily Courant, October 20, 1882, p. 2, "The Visiting Soldiery"
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Hartford.html
November 4 - Papyrus Club, Boston, Massachusetts - Speech - text not available
Reported in Hartford Daily Courant, November 6, 1882, p. 2, "City Briefs"
December 22 - New England Society, Delmonico's, New York City - "Woman - God Bless Her"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 173-175.
1883
February 19 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "What is Happiness? - this text became the basis for What Is Man?
March (?) The Kinsmen, New York City - Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, the Kinsmen was a club without dues, clubhouse, officers or bylaws. It was established by Lawrence Barrett, the name suggested by Laurence Hutton to symbolize practitioners of kindred arts who made up the membership. Mark Twain attended as the guest of Hutton in 1883. Other Kinsmen, American and British, were William Dean Howells, Frank D. Millet, T. B. Aldrich, H. C. Bunner, E. A. Abbey, Anthony Hope, Edwin Booth, Brander Matthews, Joe Jefferson, August St. Gaudens, Pinero, Bram Stoker, Forbes Robertson, John Singer Sargent, Henry Irving, Julian Hawthorne, Andrew Lang, and Edmund Gosse. For further information, see Laurence Hutton's, Talks in a Library, page 326-28 and Brander Matthews, The Tocsin of Revolt, page 255.
March 5 - Billiards Exhibition, New York City - Speech introducing Maurice Vignaux
Text published in New York Sun, March 6, 1883.
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Billiards.html
April 4 - Unity Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Introducing George W. Cable
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 176-177.
April 4 - Supper for George W. Cable, Hartford Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Speech - text not available
Of this late party Cable remarked upon an "abundance of innocent fun. There were a hundred good things said that I suppose I'll never remember." Also see Laurence Hutton's, Talks in a Library, pp. 416-18.
April 5 - Saturday Morning Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Introducing George W. Cable
See George W. Cable, His Life and Letters, edited by Lucy Bikle, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1928, p. 97.
May 23 - Royal literary and Scientific Society, Ottawa, Canada - "On Adam"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 178-180.
May 27 - Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Canada - Readings - text not available
June 7 - Decorative Art Society, home of Mrs. Franklin Whitmore, Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - text not available
According to the Hartford Daily Courant, June 8, 1883, p. 2, "City Briefs" Twain gave a series of readings from his own writings to about 150 members and friends of the Decorative Art Society.
December 4 - Union for Home Work, Authors' Carnival, Hartford, Connecticut - Actor in role from a Dickens novel - text not available
According to the Hartford Daily Courant, December 5, 1883, p. 2 in an article titled "The Authors' Carnival" -- The second event of the evening was the presentation on the large stage of a scene from Charles Dickens's "Leo Hunter." It introduced a number of clever ladies and gnetlemen who not only acted their parts, but lent to it the dialogue. The principals, Miss Hamersley and Mr. Prentice, were roundly applauded, and when Mark Twain came on the stage as a character in the scene, plaudits rang from one end of the enormous hall to the other. This scene alone was enough to compensate one for the expense of the entire evening's entertainment.
1884
February 4 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "Southern Literature" - text not available
April 14 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - Unfinished Paper to be Completed by Each Member - text not available
April 29 - Breakfast for Edwin Booth, New York City - Speech - text not available
September 16 or 17 (conjectural) - Banquet of Wheelmen, Springfield, Massachusetts - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 181.
Note: This date is in question. Although the speech was written for such an occasion, SLC was in Elmira, NY during this time frame.
October (?) - Mugwump Rally, Hartford, Connecticut - "Turncoats"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 182-184.
October 20 - Mugwump Rally, Allyn Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Remarks as Chairman
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 186-187.
November (?) "Mock Oration on the Dead Partisan" - unknown whether or not this speech was ever delivered
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 188-189.
November 5 - February 28, 1885 - Tour with George Washington Cable - over 100 engagements. Twain read and delivered passages from numerous works including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Also see B. Scott Holmes's website "Promoting Huck Finn: The Twain-Cable Tour of 1884/85" for in depth information and reviews on this tour including maps and photos of the venues.
Also see Steve Railton's website at the University of Virginia for more details on this tour.
Under the management of James B. Pond, the following cities were included on the tour:
November 5 - Opera House, New Haven, Connecticut
November 6 - Music Hall, Orange, New Jersey - "A Telephonic Conversation," "Col. Sellers in a New Role," "Col. Sellers Redux," "A Dazzling Achievement," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," "A Ghost Story," and "A Sure Cure"
November 7 - Gilmore's Opera House, Springfield, Massachusetts - "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "Col. Sellers in a New Role," "A Trying Situation," "A Ghost Story"
November - 8 - Blackstone Hall, Providence, Rhode Island
November 10 - Town Hall, Melrose, Massachusetts - "Toast to the Babies" and "A Ghost Story"
November 11 - Huntington Hall, Lowell, Massachusetts - "Toast to the Babies," "Encounter with an Interviewer," "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation” and “A Ghost Story"
November 12 - Rumford Hall, Waltham, Massachusetts
November 13 - Music Hall, Boston, Masschusetts
November 14 - Brockton, Massachusetts
November 17 - Plainfield, New Jersey - "Digging for the Facts," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," "Why I Lost the Editorship," "A Ghost Story," and "Cure for Stuttering"
November 18 - Chickering Hall, New York City - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," and "A Ghost Story"
November 19 (first performance) Chickering Hall, New York City - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," "A Ghost Story," "A Sure Cure," and "Jim's Bank"
November 19 (second performance) Chickering Hall, New York City - "Encounter with an Interviewer," "Col. Sellers in a New Role," "How I Lost the Editorship," "A Sure Cure," and "Jim's Bank"
Reviewed in The New York Times, November 19, 1884
November 20 - Opera House, Newburgh, New York - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," and "A Ghost Story"
November 21 - Association Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," and "A Ghost Story"
November 22 (two performances) - Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York - "Encounter with an Interviewer," "Buck Fanshaw's Funeral," "Col. Sellers in a New Role," "A Sure Cure," "How I Lost the Editorship," and "A Ghost Story"
November 24 & 25 - Congregational Church, Washington, D.C. (President Chester A. Arthur was in attendance.) - "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "King Sollermun," "Encounter with an Interviewer," "Col. Sellers in a New Role," and "A Ghost Story"
November 26 (first performance) - Association Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "Encounter with an Interviewer," "Certain Personal Episodes," "How I Lost the Editorship," and "A Sure Cure"
November 26 (second performance) - Association Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," and "A Ghost Story"Thanksgiving Day, November 27 was spent with Thomas Nast in Morristown, New Jersey.
November 28 & 29 - Academy of Music, Baltimore, Maryland. (The Nov. 28 performance included a reading of "The Tragic Tale of the Fishwife")
December 1 - Town Hall, Adams, Massachusetts
December 2 - Music Hall, Troy, New York
December 3 - Wilgus Opera House, Ithaca, New York
December 4 - Grand Opera House, Syracuse, New York
December 5 - Opera House, Utica, New York
December 6 (two performances) - Academy of Music, Rochester, New York
December 7 - Elks Lodge, New Osburn house, Rochester, New York - speech. Text not available.
Mark Twain and his manager James B. Pond were guests of the Rochester Elks Lodge. According to a report titled "The Elks' Social," in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 8 December 1884, p. 6, "Mark Twain entertained the assemblage for some time by relating some of his personal experiences..." Text recovered by Leslie Myrick.
December 8 - Horticulture Gardens Pavilion, Toronto, Canada
December 9 - Horticulture Gardens Pavilion, Toronto, Canada
December 10 - Concert Hall, Buffalo, New York - "Personal Episodes," "A Ghost Story," and "King Sollermun"
December 11 - Concert Hall, Buffalo, New York - "Encounter with an Interviewer," "Certain Personal Episodes," "How I Lost the Editorship," and "A Sure Cure"
December 12 - University Hall, Ann Arbor, Michigan
December 13 - Powers' Opera House, Grand Rapids, Michigan
December 15 - Opera House, Toledo, Ohio
December 16 - Whitney's, Detroit, Michigan
December 17 - Case Hall, Cleveland, Ohio - "Personal Anecdote," "A Ghost Story," and Selections from Huckleberry FinnChristmas Recess
December 29 - Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife" and Infestation of Phelps' cabin with snakes and rats
December 30 - Grand Opera House, Dayton, Ohio
December 31 - Hamilton, Ohio
1885
Under the management of Ozias Pond, brother of James B. Pond:
January 1 - Court House, Paris, Kentucky
January 2 - Odeon Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio - "A Dazzling Achievement," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," and "A Trying Situation"
January 3 (first performance) - Odeon Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," and "A Trying Situation"
January 3 (second performance) - Odeon Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio - "Personal Episodes," "How I Lost the Editorship," and Selection
January 5 - Leiderkranz Hall, Louisville, Kentucky - Certain Personal Episodes, "How I Lost the Editorship," and Selection
January 6 - Leiderkranz Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
January 7 - Plymouth Church, Indianapolis, Indiana - "Dick Baker's Cat"
January 8 - Chatterton's Opera House, Springfield, Illinois
January 9 & 10 - Mercantile Library Hall , St. Louis, Missouri - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," and "A Ghost Story"
January 12 - Opera House, Quincy, Illinois
January 13 - Hannibal, Missouri
January 14 - Opera House, Keokuk, Iowa
January 15 - Opera House, Burlington, Iowa
January 16 & 17 (two performances on the 17th) Central Music Hall, Chicago, Illinois
January 19 - Methodist Church, Evanston, Illinois - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," and "A Trying Situation"
January 20 - Opera House, Janesville, Wisconsin
January 21 - Methodist Church, Madison, Wisconsin
January 22 - Opera House, La Crosse, Wisconsin - "King Sollermun," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation" and "A Ghost Story"
January 23 - Market Hall, St. Paul, Minnesota
January 24 (two performances) - The Grand Opera House, Minneapolis, Minnesota
January 26 - Philharmonic Hall, Winona, Minnesota
January 27 - Methodist Church basement, Madison, Wisconsin
January 29 (two performances) - Academy of Music, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
January 30 - Opera House, Rockford, Illinois
January 31 - Burtis Opera House, Davenport, Iowa - "King Sollermun," "A Trying Situation," and "A Ghost Story"Under the management again of James B. Pond
February 2 & 3 - Central Music Hall, Chicago, Illinois
February 4 - Opera House, South Bend, Indiana
February 5 - Academy of Music, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Reviewed in Ft. Wayne (IND) Daily Gazette on Feb. 6, 1885; additional comments in Ft. Wayne (IND) Sunday Gazette on Feb. 8, 1885
February 6 - Grand Opera House, Lafayette, Indiana
Reviews cited by Paul Fatout in "The Twain-Cable Readings in Indiana," Indiana Magazine of History, March 1957, pp.- 18-28. Online at J-Stor.org.
February 7 (two performances)- Plymouth Church, Indianapolis, Indiana
February 9 - Comstock's Opera House, Columbus, Ohio
February 10 - Opera House, Delaware, Ohio
February 11 - First Congregational Church, Oberlin, Ohio - "Some Personal Episodes," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," "A Ghost Story," and "Incorporated Company of Mean Men"
February 12 - Whitney's, Detroit, Michigan - "Encounter with an Interviewer" and "A Dazzling Achievement"
February 13 - YMCA Hall, London, Canada
February 14 - Horticultural Gardens Pavilion, Toronto, Canada
February 16 - Grand Opera House, Brockville, Canada
February 17 - Opera House, Ottawa, Canada - selections from Huckleberry Finn, A Tramp Abroad and "The Jumping Frog
February 18 - Queen's Hall, Montreal, Canada - selections from Huckleberry Finn, “A Trying Situation” and “The Tragic Tale of a
Fishwife.”
February 18 - post performance speech at Tuque Bleue Snowshoe Club, Montreal Canada - impromptu speech.
See Guy Cardwell's Twins of Genius, p. 63.
Feburary 19 - Queen's Hall, Montreal, Canada - "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer's Brilliant Achievement," "The Blue Jay," and "The Jumping Frog"
February 20 - Town Hall, Saratoga, New York - "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," "A Trying Situation," and "A Ghost Story"
February 21 - Academy of Music, New York, New York - "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer's Brilliant Achievement," "The Blue Jay's
Mistake," and "A Ghost Story"
February 23 - Opera House, New Haven, Connecticut (announced in New Haven Evening Register, February 18 and 21, and 23, 1885)
February 26 - Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pa.
February 27 - Oratorio Hall, Baltimore, Maryland - "A Dazzling Achievement," "The Blue Jay's Mistake," "Jumping Frog," and "A Ghost Story"
February 28 - Congregational Church, Washington, D.C.
March 21 - Teachers' Association, Steinway Hall, New York City
Content of the speech was reported as "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer's brilliant achievement," and the story about "the man who was blown up and 'docked' by the Mean Man's Company that employed him for the time he neglected his work while navigating space." Also "A Tragic Tale of a Fishwife" and "The Blue Jay's Mistake."
Reported in the New York Herald, 22 March 1885, p. 11.
Recovered by Leslie Myrick, of the Mark Twain Papers, 18 January 2011.
March 31 - Tile Club Dinner for Laurence Hutton, New York City - "On Speech-Making Reform"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 190-193.
April 9 - Actors Fund Fair, Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Speech and readings
Some text published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 194.
The New York Times on April 10, 1885 reported that Twain gave a reading "The Tragic Tale of the Fishwife." The Philadelphia Public Ledger and Daily Transcript of April 10, 1885 also reported that Twain read "The Tragic Tale of the Fishwife."
April 9 - Clover Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Dinner Speech - text not available.
April 28 - American Copyright League Benefit, New York City - Reading - text not available.
April 29 - Authors Readings, Madison Square Theater, New York City - Reading "Trying Situation" - text not available
At this matinee performance Mark Twain startled everybody by appearing in formal evening dress. As reported by the World next day he explained: "I knew it would he night before they reached me, and so I came in evening dress." From Madison Square Garden he went on to a dinner of Cornell alumni at Morelli's.
April 29 - Cornell Alumni Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
May 1 - Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York - Reading - "Trying Situation" and "Golden Arm"
June 5 and 6 - Art Society Benefit, Hartford, Connecticut - Readings - "King Sollermun," "German Lesson," "Trying Situation," "Short Story"
October 7 - Monday Evening Club, Pittsfield, Massachusetts - Reading - "Mental Telegraphy"
November 19 - White House, Washington, D.C. - Impromptu speech on copyright - text not available
According to Fatout, in Notebook 20, August 20, 1885 - January 20, 1886, MTP, Mark Twain says that, accompanied by Johnson of the Century and George Walton Green of the Authors Copyright League, he called on President Cleveland and "wandered into a speech" on international copyright, which evolved into a spirited discussion by all four. The president promised to stress the subject in his next message to Congress.
From Budd's update:
Late December - Kent Club, Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut - Speech - text not available
Mentioned in Shelley Fisher Fishkin's Lighting Out for the Territory, pp. 103-104.
1886
January 18 - Typothetae Dinner, Delmonico's, New York City - "The Compositor"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 200-202.
From Budd's update:
See a possibly better text in American Bookmaker, 2 (Feb. 1886), pp. 55-56.
January 28 & 29 - Senate Committee, Washington, D.C. - Remarks on Copyright
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 206-209.
March 22 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - "Knights of Labor" also titled "The New Dynasty"
Published in Mark Twain, Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, & Essays, 1852-1890, Library of America, 1992, pp. 883-890.
April 3 - West Point, New York - Readings - "The Awful German Language," "An American Party," and "Jumping Frog"
Published in Mark Twain & West Point, pp. 158-195.
April 22 - Authors Club, Gilsey House, New York City - Reading - "Our Children"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 210-211.
Budd:
See a differing summary in "Our New York Letter," Literary World (Boston), 17 (May 1886) 152; perhaps Twain spoke twice, once truly impromptu.
May 6 - West Point, New York - Readings - text not available
July 3 - Rand Park, Keokuk, Iowa Speech
Printed in the Keokuk Weekly Constitution, July 7, 1886, page 1.
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/July4-1886.html
July 21 - Reformatory, Elmira, New York. Readings - "German," "Whistling," "Trying Situation," "King Sollermun"
From Budd's update:
For a first-hand account see The Summary, 4 (25 July 1886) - the inhouse weekly.
October 11 - Monday Evening Club, Home of Henry Robinson, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "A Protest Against Taking the Pledge" - text not available
November 6 - Saturday Morning Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading or Remarks - text not available
November 11 - Military Service Institution, Governors Island, New York - "Yankee Smith of Camelot"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 211-213.
November 29 - Authors Readings, New York City - Reading - text not available
December 9 - Tremont Temple, Boston, Massachusetts - Introducing Henry M. Stanley
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 214-215.
1887
February 10 - Stationers Board of Trade, Hotel Brunswick, New York City - Dinner Speech - "English as She is Taught"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 216-218.
February 26 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - "Machine Culture" - text not available
March 17 - The Kinsmen, New York City - Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, the Kinsmen was a club without dues, clubhouse, officers or bylaws. It was established by Lawrence Barrett, the name suggested by Laurence Hutton to symbolize practitioners of kindred arts who made up the membership. Mark Twain attended as the guest of Hutton in 1883. Other Kinsmen, American and British, were William Dean Howells, Frank D. Millet, T. B. Aldrich, H. C. Bunner, E. A. Abbey, Anthony Hope, Edwin Booth, Brander Matthews, Joe Jefferson, August St. Gaudens, Pinero, Bram Stoker, Forbes Robertson, John Singer Sargent, Henry Irving, Julian Hawthorne, Andrew Lang, and Edmund Gosse. For further information, see Laurence Hutton's, Talks in a Library, page 326-28 and Brander Matthews, The Tocsin of Revolt, page 255.
March 31 - Authors Readings for Longfellow Memorial, Boston, Massachusetts. - "English as She is Taught"
March 31 - Kent Club, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut - "English as She is Taught"
Mark Twain's scheduled appearance was reported in the New Haven Register, March 31, 1887, p. 4.
April 1 - Gymnasium Exhibition, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut - Speech
Text published in Hartford Daily Courant, April 2, 1887, p. 3, "The Gymnasium Exhibition."
Text online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Gymnastics.html
April 8 - Union Veterans Association of Maryland Banquet, Baltimore, Maryland - "An Author's Soldiering"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 219-221.
April 13 - Supper for John Drew and Ada Rehan, Daly's Theatre, New York City - Supper Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 222-224.
April 27 - Army and Navy Club of Connecticut, Central Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 225-227.
From Budd's update::
April 30 - U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York - Reading - "English as She Is Taught"
See Philip W. Leon, Mark Twain & West Point, p. 137.
November 28 - Authors Readings, Chickering Hall, New York City - "Fatal Anecdote" - text not available
December 5 - Monday Evening Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "Consistency" - text not available
December 20 - Congregationalist Club, Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts. "Post-prandial Oratory"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 230-234.
December 31 - Authors Club, Watch Night, New York City - Story - text not available
1888
January 6 - Founding of Players Club, Delmonico's, New York City - Speech - text not available
Prime movers were Edwin Booth and Augustin Daly. Among charter members who gathered at Delmonico's were Mark Twain, William Bispham, Lawrence Barrett, John Drew, Laurence Hutton, Joe Jefferson, Brander Matthews, Stephen H. Olin, General Sherman.
February 3 - Yale Alumni Association, Seminary Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - two readings - "The Burial of Buck Fanshaw" and "Encounter with an Interviewer"
Reported in New Haven Evening Register, February 4, 1888, p. 4 which stated, "Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was then introduced by President Twichell, who siad that he need not feel afraid, as he was among his friends. Mr. Clemens first took occassion to pay a worthy tribute to Mr. Twichell's personal beauty, and said that no crown ever graced a head as kingly as the prohibiton gray locks of the esteemed president."
February 27 - Historical Class, Hartford, Connecticut. Reading or Remarks - text not available
March 17 - Soldiers Home, Washington, D.C. - Reading - text not available
March 17 - Authors Readings to aid international copyright - Congregational Church, Washington, D.C. - text not available
According to the Boston Globe of March 18, p. 1, Mrs. Grover Cleveland was in attendance. Readers were Mark Twain, Richard Watson Gilder, Dr. Edward Eggleston, J. Whitcomb Riley, Colonel Thomas Knox and William Dean Howells. The readers were introduced by E. C. Stedman.
According to the Hartford Daily Courant of March 19, 1888, p. 1, in an article titled "The National Capital" -- Mark Twain took the place of Charles Dudley Warner who was delayed due to a snow storm.The Courant printed quotes from Twain's speech and reported that he told the story of how he escaped fighting a duel.
The Macon (GA) Telegraph, March 25, 1888, p. 2 reprinted a report from the Washington Post quoting Twain as saying, "There are 8,000 men working along the Hartford road night and day, actuated by the one common impulse to dig Mr. Warner out. I had intended to have my wife here for the moral support which her presence in the audience would give me, but she, too, is snowed up. So you see my circumstances are even more pathetic than Mr. Warner's."
March 19 - Authors Readings, Congregational Church, Washington, D.C. - "Encounter with an Interviewer"
According to the Washington Post of March 20, 1888, Twain read "Encounter with an Interviewer." President and Mrs. Cleveland were in attendance. Also on the program were Thomas Nelson Page, Richard Malcom Johnston, H. C. Bunner, Frank R. Stockton, Charles Dudley Warner, James Whitcomb Riley, Edward EgglestonH. J. Boyesen, and Thomas Knox.
In Mark Twain's Autobiography, 2:147-51, Mark Twain says that, as usual, the readers ran far overtime. Having been invited to the White House, he finally got there too late to see President and Mrs. Cleveland who had left for a dinner engagement.
March 23 - House Judiciary Committee, Washington, D.C. - Speech on Copyright
Reported in the Washington Post of March 24, 1888 in an article which paraphrased the speech. The Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean, March 24, 1888, p. 1 also provided a summary of the speech including the points where laughter was forthcoming. The speech was also reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 24, 1888, p. 8.
April 27 - Supper for Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, New York City - Speech - "Moses Who?" - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, Augustin Daly was host on this occasion and invited General Sherman, Chauncey Depew, Matthews, General Porter, William Winter, James Whitcomb Riley, Sol Eytinge, Lester Wallack, Ada Rehan, Effie Shannon, and Lillian Russell. Mark Twain told the "Moses who?" story and about talked about international copyright.
April 29 - Breakfast for Edwin Booth, New York City - Remarks - text not available
Henry Irving was host at this gathering of Kinsmen. Charles Dudley Warner, T. B. Aldrich, Whitelaw Reid, Lester Wallack, and William Winter attended.
May 3 - American Water Color Society, Hotel Brunswick, New York City - Speech - text not available
Twenty-first anniversary dinner for the Society
Reported in New York Herald, May 4, 1888, p. 7, "The Coming of Age Banquet of the American Water Color Society."
News item recovered by Leslie Myrick.
May 28 - Joseph Twichell's 50th birthday celebration, Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, CT - Speech
Reported and summarized in Hartford Daily Courant, May 29, 1888, p. 1, "Mr. Twichell's Birthday."
Clemens referred to Twichell as "the handsomest man that ever lived" and read the poem "Days of My Youth" by St. George Tucker which Clemens said reminded him "so strongly" of Twichell.
September 11 - Reformatory, Elmira, New York - Readings - text not available
October 30 - Mugwump Political Rally, Allyn Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Speech - text not available
Reported and summarized in Hartford Daily Courant, October 31, 1888, p. 8, "Mugwumps in Council."
December 6 - Gathering for Edith Wilder Smith, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - "King Arthur and the Yankee"
1889
January 17 - Academy of Music, Baltimore, Maryland - Readings - readings from the unpublished A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and an encore about his dueling in experience in Virginia City, Nevada..
When the wife of Thomas Nelson Page died suddenly, Mark Twain substituted for him in Baltimore. Also on the program was Richard Malcolm Johnston, to whom Mark Twain gave all the receipts for the evening.
The speech was reported in the Baltimore Sun, in an article titled, "Readings by Authors," January 18, 1889, Supplement, page 1.
January 21 - Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. - "Lucerne Girl," "Tar Baby," "Andrea del Sarto, " "German Lesson," "Interviewer," "Bluejay," "Baker's Cat," "Golden Arm"
Mark Twain admitted to his notebook that this program was too long by at least a half hour.
From Budd's update:
February 2 - Ladies' Literary Association, Prof. W. D. Cabell's resident on Massachusetts Ave., Washington, D.C. - Speech
Reprinted by Louis J. Budd in "A Rediscovered Mark Twain Speech: New Laws and Old Yarns," Essays in Arts and Sciences, 23 (Oct. 1994), 59-66.
February 6 - Yale Alumni, Foot Guard Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 235-237.
A second, undelivered speech prepared for this same occasion on the topic of "Girard College and Religion" was published in Meridian, The Semi-Annual from the University of Virginia, Spring/Summer 2005, pp. 37-39.
February 9 - South Baptist Church, Hartford, Connecticut - Readings - text not available
February 25 - Trinity College Alumni, New York City - Dinner Speech - "The College President"
Text of speech published in Hartford Daily Courant, February 26, 1889, p. 3. The speech was in honor of Twain's friend Dr. George Williamson Smith, a clergyman and President of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
A lengthy quote from the speech is online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/President.html
February 27 - Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading - text not available.
According to an article in the Springfield (MA) Republican, "Nutmeg Capital Gossip," p. 1, Clemens did not want the text of his reading published for fear he would lose copyright for this previously unpublished work which the newspaper described as "intensely funny."
February 28 - Tremont Temple, Boston, Massachusetts - Introducing Edgar Wilson "Bill" Nye and James Whitcomb Riley
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 238-239.
An unidentified clipping, MTP, described Mark Twain as "a frowsy-headed, round-shouldered man, as gray as a rat, yet still vigorous in spite of his years," who "tottered on to the platform" followed by "two ambiguous-looking orphans in dress suits and goldbowed spectacles."
From Budd's update:
For a highly similar but not identical version see Frank Wilson Nye, Bill Nye: His Own Life Story (1926), pp. 229-231. J. B. Pond hired a stenographer to take down Twain's speech.
March 6 - Wednesday Morning Club, Pittsfield, Massachusetts - Story or Remarks - text not available
March 7 - Authors Readings for international copyright, Boston Museum, Boston, Massachusetts - Reading - "New England Weather"
Reported in the Boston Globe, March 8, 1889, p. 4. Also on the program were Oliver Wendell Holmes, Charles Dudley Warner, Julia Ward Howe, Richard Malcom Johnston, F. Hopkinson Smith, John Boyle O'Reilly, George Washington Cable, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp.100-103.
March 30 - Supper for Edwin Booth, Delmonico's, New York City - "The Long Clam"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 241-243.
April 1 - Home of Mrs. Elizabeth Hamersley, Hartford, Connecticut. Readings - "Encounter with an Interviewer"
See Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals, Vol. III (1883-1891), p. 446
April 8 - Baseball Dinner, New York City - "The Grand Tour-1. The Sandwich Islands"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 244-247.
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/TwainBaseball.html
From Budd's update:
April 9 - Unknown location, probably in New York City - Reading - text not available
See Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals, Vol. III (1883-1891), p. 446
April 13 - Home of Annie Brown, New York City - Reading - "King Arthur," Muleykeh," "Gov. Gardiner," "Christening Yarn," "Tragic Tale of the Fishwife," and Selection from Uncle Remus. (See Annie Brown to SLC 1889).
May 11 - Saturday Morning Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Readings - "Isaac Muleykeh," "King Arthur," "Interviewer," "Christening"
May 15 - Ology Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Dinner Speech - text not available
May 22 - Talcott Street Church Benefit, Unity Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - "Decay of the Art of Lying" and "How I Escaped Being Killed in a Duel"
From Budd's update:
June 26 - Yale Alumni Banquet, New Haven, Connecticut - Speech - text not available
See New Haven Morning Journal and Courier, 27 June, p. 2.
October 9 - Banquet for American International Congress, Allyn House, Hartford, Connecticut - Remarks - text not available
See Hartford Courant, "America in Connecticut: The Banquet," 10 October, p. 1.
November 12 - Press Club, Boston, Massachusetts - Dinner Speech - text not available
November 15 - Fellowcraft Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
The Fellowcraft Club was an organization of magazine writers and illustrators.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 247-250.
November 28 - Young Men's Christian Association (Y. M. C. A.), Reading Room, Hartford, Connecticut, Thanksgiving Dinner - Speech
Text of speech and summary published in Hartford Daily Courant, November 29, 1889, p. 1 "Thanksgiving Exercises"
December 31 - Authors Club Watch Night, New York City - Story - text not available
1890
January 11 - West Point, New York. - Readings - from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
See Philip Leon's Mark Twain and West Point, p. 137.
January 20 - Broadway Theatre, New York City - Curtain Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 256-257.
April 27 - Max O'Rell Dinner, Everett House, Boston, Massachusetts - "On Foreign Critics"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 257-260.
April 29 - Open Hearth benefit, Foot Guard Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Reading from A Connecticut Yankee
Reported in Hartford Daily Courant, April 29, 1890, p. 2, "Open Hearth Concert Tonight"
May 10 - Saturday Morning Club, Hartford, Connecticut - Remarks - text not available
July 4 - Informal Gathering, Onteora, New York - Story - "Golden Arm"
September (?) National Wholesale Druggists Association Banquet, Washington, D.C. - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 261-262.
September 12 - Storey Dinner, New York City. Dinner Speech - text not available
Moorfield Storey (1845-1929), lawyer and publicist, was a leader of the Mugwumps who opposed Blaine in 1884, and a prominent spokesman of the Anti-Imperialist League, which was opposed to American meddling in the Philippines.
October 9 - Roger A. Pryor Dinner, Astor House, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 263-264.
1891
March 23 - Bryn Mawr College, Bryn, Pennsylvania - Stories and Readings - "Christening," "True Story," "Tar Baby," "Whistling," "Golden Arm"
According to the Philadelphia Record, as reprinted in the Grass Valley, California Daily Tidings, April 21, 1891, Mark Twain said: "I have been elected an honorary member of the class of '94. I feel deeply grateful to my fellow classmates for the compliment they have done me, the more so because I feel I have never deserved such treatment. I will reveal a secret to you. I have an ambition: that I may go up and up on the ladder of education until at last I may be a professor of Bryn Mawr College. I would be a professor of telling anecdotes. This art is not a very high one, but it is a very useful one. One class of anecdotes is that which contains only words. You begin almost as you please and talk and talk until your allotted time and close when you get ready. I will illustrate this by a story of an Irish and Scotch christening." [He told the christening story and others.] This item was also reprinted in the Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1891, p. 6.
His daughter, Susy, was a student at Bryn Mawr at the time. When her father, who had promised her that he would not tell the story of the "Golden Arm," forgot himself and told it, she became much upset and rushed out in tears. See Susy and Mark Twain, ed. Edith Colgate Salsbury (1965): 287-88; Justin Kaplan, Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain (1966):310.
April 22 - Authors Readings, New York City - Story - text not available
November 26 - American Physicians Association, English Haus, Berlin, Germany - Speech - text not available.
Reported in U.S. newspapers including Macon (GA) Telegraph, November 27, 1891, p. 1.
December 19 - Dinner to American Minister to Germany William Walter Phelps, English and American Club, Dresden, Germany - Speech - text not available.
Reported in The New York Times, December 19, 1891, p. 5.
1892
January 13 - Y.M.C.A. Hall, Berlin, Germany - Readings - text not available
January (?) - Gewerberhaus, Berlin, Germany - Readings - text not available
May 25 - Congregational Chapel, Berlin, Germany - Readings - text not available
July 14 - S.S. Lahn, at sea - Readings - text not available
In a mock trial, Mark Twain was accused and convicted of unscientific lying. Sentenced to read three hours from his books, he did so, aloud.
See Washington Post, November 13, 1892 article titled "Twain In Durance Vile; Ludicrous Trials of a Humorist in the Middle of the Ocean"
From Budd's update:
Before September 26 - Literary Congress, Milan, Italy - Speech - text not available
Twain spoke on copyright; see New York Times, October 16, 1892, p. 20.
The Times article written by William Henry Bishop reported: "The official language of the convention was French;… Mark Twain, arriving by opportune accident en route with his family for Florence, made the only one in English."
1893
April 6 - Carnegie Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
October 17 - Oxford Club, Brooklyn, New York - Dinner Speech - "Watermelon Story"
Reported in Brooklyn Eagle, October 18, 1893, p. 5 which reported Twain's speech in detail. The speech included the watermelon story. The function was presided over by President Berri. Guests were Samuel L. Clemens, Colonel John A. Cockerill, John Brisbin Walker, Mural Halstead, William Cullen Bryan, General A. C. Barnes.
From Budd's update:
November 4 - Uncut Leaves Society, New York City - Reading - "Simon Wheeler’s Arrival in Heaven," "The Californian’s Tale,", and "Irish Christening"
See John D. Barry, "New York Letter," Literary World (Boston), 24 (18 Nov. 1893) p. 385. Also Critic, 4 Nov. 1893, p. 294.
The Hartford Daily Courant, November 11, 1893, p. 4 "Society Notes" reported that Clemens and Kate Douglas Wiggins were among the readers.
November 11 - Lotos Club, 558 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 265-267.
The New York Times, November 12, 1893 also published a version of the speech.
November 19 - Henry Irving - Ellen Terry Dinner, New York City - Possible dinner Speech - text not available
November 20 - According to Paul Fatout: St. Andrews Society, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
According to The New York Times, November 21, Twain attended a dinner for The Fencers Club at 37 West 22nd Street on the evening of November 20.
November 26 - Henry Irving Dinner, Delmonico's, New York City - Possible dinner Speech - text not available
November 27 - Manhattan Club, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
December 1 - Mackay Dinner, Players Club, New York City - Remarks or Story - text not available
John William Mackay (1831-1902) was one of the four bonanza kings who made fortunes on the Comstock Lode of Nevada in the 1870s. He was an affable, unpretentious, generous man fond of music and the theater. The dinner, given by the Players Club, had somewhat the flavor of miners' fare: soup, raw oysters, corned beef and cabbage. Mark Twain, who arrived about midnight, described the guests as gray-haired veterans of the Pacific Coast, with whom he swapped yarns about old times. He said he did his full share of the talking until about 1:30 A.M. See Paine's edition of Mark Twain's Letters, Vol. 2, page 597.
December 20 - Brander Matthews Dinner - Dinner Speech
See The Critic, December 30, 1893, p. 432 for the date.
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 269-270.
December 31 - Musical Evening, New York, NY - reading - "Christening Yarn" and "Dr. Benjamin E. Martin and the Etchings"
This party occurred at a house near the Players Club. Some thirty musical ladies and gentlemen were there, also a Hungarian band. After a midnight supper, there was dancing until 4:30 A.M. "By half past four," said Mark Twain, "I had danced all those people down--and yet was not tired; merely breathless." See Paine's edition of Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2, p. 605.
1894
January 13 - Home of Mrs. Carrol Beckwith, New York City - Readings or Stories - text not available
January 18 - Authors Club, New York City - Remarks - text not available
January 19 - Stanford White Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
January 25 - Authors Readings, Hollis Street Theater, Boston, Massachusetts - Reading - "Watermelon Story" and "Odessa beggarwoman"
January 31 - Home of Mrs. Gertrude Cowdon, New York City - Readings or Stories - text not available
February (?) - Robert Reid's Studio, New York City - Readings or Stories - text not available
Robert Reid (1862-1929) was an American painter. At Reid's studio the party included: Constant Coquelin, Richard Harding Davis, Nikola Tesla, John Drew, Anders Zorn, William H. Chase, and others. The party went on until 4 A.M.
February 17 - Charles Hoyt Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
Charles Hoyt (1860-1900) was a playwright and manager had been dramatic critic, sports editor, and columnist on Boston Post (1878-83), then became lessee of the Garrick Madison Square Theatres. He wrote a number of popular farces of which the most successful was A Trip to Chinatown (1891).
February 22 - Town Hall Dedication, Fairhaven, Massachusetts - "Advice"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 271-273.
February 26 & 27 - Reading With James Whitcomb Riley and Douglass Sherley, Madison Square Garden Concert Hall, New York City - "Jumping Frog," "Company of Mean Men," and "Oudinot"
See The New York Times, February 27, 1894.
March 3 Unidentified Function, New York City - Reading - text not available
March 4 - Aldine Club Story Tellers Night, New York City - Story - text not available
From Budd's update:
April 5 - Ballroom, British Embassy, Paris, France, for benefit of American and English schools - Reading - "Playing Courier" and "Encounter with an Interviewer"
Announced in Wheeling (WVa) Register, April 6, 1894, p. 1 with dateline Paris, April 5.
Also see Le Temps, April 7, p. 3.
According to The New York Times, April 22, 1894, p. 21, Mark Twain read "Playing Courier" and "Interview"
May 18 - London, dinner for officers for United States naval cruiser Chicago hosted by Poultney Bigelow - speech - text not available.
Reported in New Haven Register, May 18, 1894, p. 1. Datelined London, May 18.
July 22 - Oriental Hotel, Manhattan Beach, New York City - Reading - "Rev. Samuel Jones's Reception in Heaven"
Samuel Porter Jones (1847-1906) was an American temperance advocate. A Georgia lawyer who drank too much, he converted to Methodism (1872), and became a famous exhorter of the damnation-and-brimestone variety. He denounced profanity as well as liquor, often so heatedly that his own language
became spectacularly profane. See H. L. Mencken, "Hell and Its Outskirts," New Yorker (October 23, 1948).
July 25 - Oriental Hotel, Manhattan Beach, New York City - Reading - "Playing Courier"
August 20 - Benefit for the Seaman's orphanage at Southampton and the Blue Anchor Society at Staten Island, aboard steamship PARIS - Readings - "The German Lesson" and "The Fishwoman"
Reported in Brooklyn Eagle, "A Mid-Ocean Letter," September 9, 1894, p. 5. Letter dated August 22 refers to the affair as "last Monday."
1895
February 14 - Y.P.S.C.E., 17 Rue St., Florentin, Paris, France - "Fifteen Minutes with Mark Twain" - text not available
An autographed theatre program for the Y.P.S.C.E. (Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor) was auctioned by Brunk Auctions, 117 Tunnel Road, Asheville, NC 28805 via ebay on January 8, 2006 (ebay item 6590792883).
March 25 - Cramp's Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 274-275. Mark Twain wrote this speech but never delivered it because the steamship St. Paul failed to launch during the official ceremonies and the luncheon and celebratory speeches were postponed. The speech was printed several years later in the New York Herald, 15 April 1906 in the Magazine Section, p. 4.
May 17 - American Seaman's Friend Society, aboard steamship NEW YORK - Readings - text not available
Reported in Brooklyn Eagle, May 18, 1895, p. 2.
May 18 - Herald Square Theatre, New York City - impromptu speech after seeing the production of Pudd'nhead Wilson for the first time
Reported in New York Herald, May 19, 1895, p.7, "Mark Twain Speaks. He Goes to See "Pudd'nhead Wilson" for the First Time and is Called to the Stage." Also reported later in St. Louis Republic, November 10, 1895, p. 22, "Mark Twain Wouldn't Wait / He Saw His Story Staged before He Was Expected." Both newspaper items recovered by Leslie Myrick of the Mark Twain Project at Berkeley.
May 22 - Herald Square Theatre, New York City - Curtain Speech for Pudd'nhead Wilson
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 276-278.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 23, 1895.
July 12 - House of Refuge, Randall's Island, New York - "Morals Lecture"
The lecture was a rehearsal for Twain's upcoming World Tour.
July 13 - Reformatory, Elmira, New York. Lecture - "Morals Lecture"
July 15, 1895 - July 15, 1896 - World Speaking Tour: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Ceylon, Mauritius South Africa: about 140 engagements.
Topics included "Morals Lecture" - Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 279-286 and "His Grandfather's Old Ram" - Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 289-292.
Also see Steve Railton's website at the University of Virginia for more details on the North American portion of the tour including map, letters, and reviews.
The North America portion of the world tour was under the management of James B. Pond and included the following cities:
July 15 & 16 - Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
July 18 - Soo Opera House or Hotel Iroquois, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan - "Morals Lecture"
July 19 - Casino Room, Grand Hotel, Mackinac, Michigan - "Morals Lecture"
July 20 - Grand Opera House, Petoskey, Michigan - "Morals Lecture"
July 22 - First Methodist Church, Duluth, Minnesota - "Morals Lecture"
July 23 - Hotel West, Minneapolis, Minnesota - "Morals Lecture"
July 23 - Reception and Supper, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Supper Speech - text not available
July 24 - People's Church, St. Paul, Minnesota - "Morals Lecture"
July 26 -27 - Selkirk Hall, Winnipeg, Canada
July 27 - Luncheon, Winnipeg, Canada - Speech - text not available
July 27 - Manitoba Club Supper, Winnipeg, Canada -. Supper Speech - text not available
July 29 - Grand Opera House, Crookston, Minnesota -"Morals Lecture"
July 31 - Opera House, Great Falls, Montana - "Morals Lecture"
July 31 - Electric Club Supper, Great Falls. Supper Speech - text not available
August 1 - John Maguire's Opera House, Butte, Montana - "Morals Lecture"
August 1 - Supper, Butte, Montana Supper - Speech - text not available
August 2 - Evans Opera House, Anaconda, Montana - "Morals Lecture"
August 3 & 4 - Ming Opera House, Helena, Montana - "Morals Lecture"
August 3 - Montana Club Supper, Helena, Montana - Supper Speech - text not available
August 5 - Bennett Opera House, Missoula, Montana - "Morals Lecture"
August 7 - Opera House, Spokane, Washington - "Morals Lecture"
August 9 - Marquam Grand, Portland, Oregon - "Morals Lecture"
August 9 - Arlington Club Supper, Portland, Oregon - Supper Speech - text not available
August 10 - Olympia Theater, Olympia, Washington - "Morals Lecture"
August 12 - Opera House, Tacoma, Washington - "Morals Lecture"
August 12 - Reception given by Mrs. George Turner, Tacoma, Washington - Story
Reported in Tacoma Daily News, 17 August 1895, "A Pleasant Afternoon with Mark Twain", p. [8] gives text of story. Also An article titled "Mark Twain's Story" by Bernice E. Newell was published in the Los Angeles Times, October 1895 which reported:
"Mark Twain visited Tacoma recently, taking in the "City of Destiny" on his way to Australia. While here he and Mrs. Clemens and their daughter Claire were entertained by their old-time friends Mrs. Judge Turner and Mrs. Frank Allyn, the wife and daughter of the late George Turner, Chief Justice of Nevada during the great mining days, who made his first overland trip in a stage coach with Mr. Clemens, then a young man of 26. Before a small company, invited in informally to meet them, Mr. Clemens consented to tell a story…" Newell's article reprints Twain's story about the unrecognized acquaintance whom Twain mistaked for a lightning rod salesman when he visited his home in Hartford, Connecticut. Twain gave similar versions of the story in a speech known as "Morals and Memory."
August 12 - Press Club Supper, Tacoma, Washington. Supper Speech
The Tacoma Morning Union of August 13, 1895, quoted a fragment of Mark Twain's speech: "As a rule a chairman at a banquet is an ass, but your chairman is not an ass. His plan is the best I have ever encountered. It gives the irresponsibles an opportunity to be heard before the guest of the evening is called upon. As a rule the man who is the guest of honor is introduced as the first speaker, and the more he is lauded, the more difficult it is for him to speak. Every compliment ties his tongue."
August 13 - The Ranier Club, Seattle, Washington - "Morals Lecture"
August 14 - Lighthouse Theater, New Whatcom, Washington - "Morals Lecture"
August 15 - Imperial Opera House, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - "Morals Lecture"
August 21 & 22 - The Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - "Morals Lecture"
August 21 - Press Club Supper, Victoria - Supper Speech - text not availableThe second half of the world tour was under the management of Robert Sparrow Smythe and his son Carlyle Greenwood Smythe and included the following cities:
September 13 - Dinner with Governor, Suva, Fiji Islands - Dinner speech - text not available
September 18 - Athenaeum Club, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Dinner Speech - text not available
The Adelaide Advertiser of September 19 reported, "In responding to the toast of his health Mr. Clemens proposed another toast 'Advance Australia,' which was responded to by Sir Henry Parkes and Sir William Windeyer. Mark Twain had an enthusiastic reception." [News clipping courtesy of Leslie Myrick.]
September 19, 21, 23, 24 - Protestant Hall, 236-240 Castlereagh Street Sydney. New South Wales, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
September 27, 28, 30, October 1, 2 - Bijou Theatre, Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
September 28 - Yorick Club Dinner, Melbourne, Australia Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 292-298 (Fatout misdates this speech.).
See Miriam Jones Shillingburg, At Home Abroad: Mark Twain in Australasia, p. 66.
October 12, 14, 15, 16 - Theatre Royal, Adelaide, South Australia - "Morals Lecture"
October 12 - Late Party, Adelaide, South Australia - Speech or Story - text not available
The Adelaide South Australian Register said, October 15, 1895: "Mark Twain had rather a lively and congenial social after his lecture on Saturday night amongst friends with whom wit was rampant and flourished till the 'wee sma' hoors ayont the twal.' "
October 14 - Mayor's Parlor, Adelaide, South Australia - Remarks
See Miriam Jones Shillingburg, At Home Abroad: Mark Twain in Australasia, p. 83.
Of Mark Twain's speech, the South Australian Register of October 15 said: "He was reminded that Adelaide possessed advantages over America . . . in that the city government was honest. He had tried himself to introduce improvements in his own way, but not always with success, but he would like to state that honest civic governments were really the rule in America. There was always a fly in the amber, but which was the particular amber the fly got into was the question; anyway it was the fly that got the amber into discredit." Speaking of the Australian landscape, he said "He recognized the grass, but the trees were new to him. However, Mr. Murphy [C. A. Murphy, American consul] knew all about the trees, and described everything about the country. He did not care whether the information was correct or not, for all he wanted was information and plenty of it."
October 17 - Mechanics' Hall, Horsham, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
October 18 - Town Hall, Stawell, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
October 21 & 22 - Mechanics' Institute, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
October 23 & 24 - Royal Princess Theatre, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
October 23 - Dinner, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia - Dinner Speech - text not available
October 25 - Mayor's Welcome, Maryborough, Victoria, Australia - Remarks
See Miriam Jones Shillingburg, At Home Abroad: Mark Twain in Australasia, p. 110.
October 25 - Town Hall, Maryborough, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
October 25 - Mayor's Welcome, Maryborough, Victoria, Australia - text not available
October 26 - Saturday matinee, Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
See Miriam Jones Shillingburg, At Home Abroad: Mark Twain in Australasia, p. 116.
October 27 - Smoke Night, Australian Institute of Journalists, Cathedral Hotel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - 4 speeches
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 298-301
October 28 - Exhibition Theatre, Geelong, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
October 29 - Town Hall, Prahran, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
November 5 - Theatre Royal, Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
November 6, 7, 8 - City Hall, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
November 9 - Theatre Royal, Timaru, South Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
November 11 - Theatre Royal, Oamaru, South Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
November 13, 14, 15 - Theatre Royal, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
November 15 - Savage Club Supper, Provincial Council Chamber, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand. -Supper Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 302-304.
November 16 - Canterbury Club Luncheon, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand - Remarks - text not available
November 21 & 22 - Old City Hall, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
November 25 - Opera House, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
November 28 - Theatre Royal, Napier, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
December 2 - Palmerston North, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
December 3 & 4 - Odd Fellows' Hall, Wanganui, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
December 5 - Drill Hall, Hawera, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
December 6 - Alexandra Hall, New Plymouth, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
December 10 & 11 - Opera House, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand - "Morals Lecture"
December 10 - Wellington Club Supper, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand - Supper Speech - text not available
December 11 - Minister for Maori Affairs Dinner, Wellington, New Zealand - Dinner Speech - text not available
December 19 - School of Arts, Scone, New South Wales, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
December 20 - School of Arts, Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - "Sandwich Islands Lecture" and "Mrs. McWilliams and the Lightning"
December 21 - School of Arts, Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
December 26 & 27 - Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - "Morals Lecture"
December 30 - Commemoration Luncheon, Glenelg, South Australia - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 305-307.
An article titled "Australians Ridicule War; References to the Venzuelan Question at a Banquet in Adelaid" in The Washington Post, Dec. 31, 1895, p. 11 states: "A banquet was held at Adelaide to celebrate Foundation Day, and many patriotic speeches were made. Hon. James Henry Young, the Minister of Works of New South Wales, who is American born, ridiculed the idea of war. Mark Twain was also present and echoed the statement that talk of war between blood relations was absurd."
December 30 - Mayor's Reception, Adelaide, South Australia - Remarks - text not available
December 30 & 31 - Theatre Royal, Adelaide, South Australia - "Morals Lecture"
1896
January 24, 27, 28 - Novelty Theatre, Bombay, Maharashtra, India - "Morals Lecture"
January 27 - Bombay Club Dinner, Bombay, Maharashtra, India - Dinner Speech - text not available
January 29 - Poona Gymkhana, Poona, Maharashtra, India - "Morals Lecture"
January 31 - Durbar Hall of the Laxmi Vilas Palace, Baroda, Gujarat, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 3 - Railway Club Theatre, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 5 - Benares, Uttar Pradesh, India
February 10, 12, 13 - Theatre Royal, Calcutta, Bengal, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 14 - Darjeeling Planters' Club Dinner, Darjeeling, India - Dinner Speech - text not available
February 15 - Town Hall, Darjeeling, Bengal, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 18 - Theatre Royal, Calcutta, Bengal, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 19 - Muzaffarpur Club, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 20 - Club Supper, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India - Supper Speech - no text available
February 22 & 24 - Mohamed Bagh Club, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 23 - United Service Dinner, Chutter Manzil Palace, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India - Dinner Speech - no text available
Februrary 25 - Kanpur, India - "Morals Lecture"
February 28 - Metcalfe Hall, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India - "Morals Lecture"
March 1- 15 (?) - Jaipur, India - no recorded lectures during this time of rest and recuperation
March 16 - Delhi, Punjab, India
March 18 & 19 - Railway Theatre, Lahore, Punjab, India - "Morals Lecture"
March 20 - Rawalpindi, Punjab, India - "Morals Lecture"
March 20 - Club Supper, Rawalpindi, Punjab, India - Supper Speech - text not available
April 3 & 4 - Public Hall, Colombo, Ceylon - "Morals Lecture"
Between April 15 - 27 - Curepipe, Island of Mauritius - Dinner or Supper - Speech - text not available
May 12 & 13 - Theatre Royal, Durban, Natal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 12 - Savage Club Supper, Durban, Natal, South Africa - Supper Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout: Dr. Samuel Campbell, dinner chairman, said that he prescribed Mark Twain's books as a tonic for convalescing patients. In an undated reminiscence, Natal University Library, Durban, South Africa, Dr. Campbell summarizes Mark Twain's speech: "He commenced his reply by describing how much he admired Durban--what wonderful men they were. He then proceeded to give some of his experiences.... he told of how he had been ill in Bombay recently and called in a Doctor, a remarkable man, clever was no name for him, he got right down to the disease and cured it--but left a much worse one behind and passed him on to a Doctor in Calcutta, a wonderful Physician, who cured him of this malignant disease but left a worse one behind.... Then he turned his attention particularly to my relationship to him--how soothed he was to hear that he had been so helpful to me in my profession--curing my patients by means of his writing. I was no doubt an honest man, but had it ever occurred to me that I was using his brains to acquire wealth, position, credit. It was surely evident to the simplest intelligence that I owed him something and he would be glad to receive a cheque from me before he left Durban."
May 15 & 16 - Theatre Royal, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 15 - Combined Clubs Dinner, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa - Dinner Speech - text not available
May 18 and 19 - Standard Theatre, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 20 - Home of Mrs. Adele Chapin, Luncheon, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa - Remarks - text not available
This speech was summarized in Chapin's book Their Trackless Way: A Book of Memories by Adele Le Bourgeois Chapin as follows: "He began by saying that if the England of 1776 had been the England of to-day, America could not have done better than remain her colony; but that we, with the hurry of youth, threw off the yoke which England herself threw off later. It was the overthrow of a party, not of England, and it was the curse of party loyalty which brought about our war. And so he continued, going deep into the recesses of history, touching upon the psychology of nationality; and all relieved by that lightness of touch and sense of humour which made him one of the most famous men of our day (Chapin, pp. 123-24). Text online at HathiTrust Digital Library.
May 21 - Standard Theatre, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 23 - Caledonian Hall, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 23 - Jail, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa - Talk to Jameson Raiders
In Paine's edition of Mark Twain: A Biography, Volume 3, p. 1018, Mark Twain says : "I made them a speech--sitting down. It just happened so. I don't prefer that attitude. Still, it has one advantage--it is only a talk, it doesn't take the form of a speech.... I advised them at considerable length to stay where they were--they would get used to it and like it presently; if they got out they would only get in again somewhere else, by the look of their countenances; and I promised to go and see the President and do what I could to get him to double their jail terms."
May 25 - Caledonian Hall, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 25 - Pretoria Club, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa - Dinner Speech - text not available
May 26 - Caledonian Hall, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 27 & 28 - Standard Theatre, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
May 28 - Dinner or Supper, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa - Speech - text not available
May 30 - Town Hall, Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
June 1 - Town Hall, Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
June 1 - Press Club Supper, Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa - Supper Speech - text not available
June 5 - Town Hall, Queenstown, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
June 8 & 9- Town Hall, King Williams Town, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
June 11, 12, 13 - Mutual Hall, East London, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
June 22, 23, 24 - Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
June 26 & 27 - Albany Drill Hall, Grahamstown, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
June 30 - Town Hall, Kimberley, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
July 1 - Town Hall, Kimberley, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
July 9, 10, 11 - Opera House, Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
July 12- Claremont Hall, Claremont, Cape Province, South Africa - "Morals Lecture"
1897
January 31 - Poultney Bigelow Dinner, England - Speech or Story - text not available
Among guests on this occasion were Lord Young, chief of the Judiciary of Scotland; Sir William Vernon Harcourt, leader of the Opposition, House of Commons; and Herbert Gladstone, son of the former prime minister.
July 1 - Supper, London, England - Speech or Story - text not available
October 31 - Concordia Festkneipe, Vienna, Austria - "Die Schrecken Der Deutschen Sprache"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 314-315.
1898
January 2 - Dinner and Dance, Vienna, Austria - Speech or Story - text not available
February 1 - Charity Reading, Boesendorfer Saal, Vienna, Austria - "German and English," "Old Ram," "Golden Arm," "Ornithorhyneus," "Watermelon"
In TS, Notebook 32b (2):55, MTP, Mark Twain wrote an introduction to his program of readings: "Es ist uber mein Kraft, das grosse Vergnugen welche mir dies so freundlich Empfangen gibt, in Worte fassen zu konnen--I could not adequately do it in my own tongue--ich kann nur sagen dass ob ich er vedient habe oder nicht, ich bin Ihnen nichtsdestoweniger aufrichtic dankbar dafur. It is not good German, but the intention is good--better than the clothes it wears."
From Budd's update:
March 21 - English-French Conversation Club, Vienna, Austria - Reading - "The Californian's Tale" and "Adam's Diary"
See Carl Dolmetsch, Our Famous Guest, p. 146.
March 28 - Home for English Governesses, Vienna, Austria - Story - "Mexican Plug"
April 1 - Unidentified Dinner. Four Speeches - text not available
From Budd's update:
Summer - Private Dinner. Remarks - text not available
See Kate Douglas Wiggin, My Garden of Memory (1923), pp. 293-294. However, Wiggins' dating is incompatible with the place she gives.
From Budd's update:
October 18 - Pacifist rally in Vienna, Austria - Remarks - text not available
See Dolmetsch, Our Famous Guest, pp. 189-190.
1899
February 28 - Farewell dinner for American Ambassador Charlemagne Tower, Hotel Bristol, Vienna, Austria - Remarks - complete text not available
See Dolmetsch, Our Famous Guest, pp. 155-156. Also see Helen Tower Brunet, Nellie and Charlie: A Family Memoir of the Gilded Age, p. 78 who quotes from the speech that Clemens described Tower as "qualified by a knowledge of the languages required by the business and social relationships of his office; by a broad knowledge of affairs; by knowledge of men and the world [and] a tongue gifted, at need, of that supreme diplomatic eloquence -- silence, when silence is the best speech!"
March 8 - Charity Reading, Vienna, Austria - Stories - complete text not available
See Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 3 (2015) which states that he shared the platform with the actress Auguste Wilbrandt-Baudius. He noted he read "Lucern Girl & Interviewer" in Notebook 40, TS p. 56. Also see "A New German Word" in Mark Twain's Speeches, (1910), p. 55 which gives a fragment of Mark Twain's introduction: "I have not sufficiently mastered German to allow my using it with impunity. My collection of fourteen-syllable German words is still incomplete. But I have just added to that collection a jewel--a valuable jewel. I found it in a telegram from Linz, and it contains ninety-five letters:
"Personaleinkommensteurschatzungskommissionsmitgliedsreisekostenrechnungserganzungdrevisionsfund.
"If I could get a similar word engraved upon my tombstone I should sleep beneath it in peace."
March (?) - Charity Reading, Budapest, Hungary - Stories - text not available
March 23 Hungarian Press Jubilee, Budapest, Hungary - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 319-320.
From Budd's update:
March 25 - Hungarian Journalists' Association, Leopoldtown Club, Budapest, Hungary - Reading - "A Trying Situation," "Watermelon Story," "Encounter with an Interviewer," and "A Genuine Mexican Plug."
See Dolmetsch, Our Famous Guest, p. 57.
June 9 - Savage Club, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 319-320.
June 10 - Lord Salisbury's Party, London, England - Speech or Story - text not available
June 12 - Authors Club, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 322-323.
From Budd's update::
See Literary World (Boston), 30 (July 8, 1899), p. 216 for a somewhat different text - quoted from Literary World (London).
June 14 - Scotch Affair, London, England - Speech - text not available
June 16 - Whitefriars Club, Hotel Cecil, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 324-328.
June 17 - Canon Wilberforce, London, England - Remarks - text not available
June 21 - Colquhoun Club of the Royal Society of Literature, Dinner, London, England - Speech- text not available
Reverend Charles Taylor, D.D., President of the Colquhoun Club, proposed the health of their guest Mark Twain but omitted all mention of the latter. Taylor's speech was devoted to an interesting account of his own visit to the United States a few years earlier. Mark Twain retaliated by mercilessly chaffing the chairman on the compliments he might have paid him but didn't. (Special appreciation to Leslie Myrick of the Mark Twain Project at Berkeley for recovering this information from The Eagle, Volumes 29-30, 1908, at google books online.)
June 21 - Irving Supper, London, England - Speech or Story - text not available
June 25 - The Kinsmen, London, England - Speech or Story - text not available
June 28 - St. Paul's School, London, England - Remarks - text not available
June 29 - New Vagabonds Club, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 330-332.
July 3 - Unidentified Luncheon, London, England - Speech or Story - text not available
July 4 - American Society, Hotel Cecil, London, England - "The Day We Celebrate"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 333-334.
July 5 - Campbell-Bannerman Dinner. Probably London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836-1908) was a British parliamentarian of long standing, a leader of the Liberal party who had held posts in the War Office and the Admiralty, and who became prime minister in 1905.
1900
March 23 - Moberly Bell Dinner, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, Charles Francis Moberly Bell (1847-1911) was a British journalist who had been a London Times reporter in Egypt, where he founded an English language paper, the Egyptian Gazette (1880). Called to London to manage the Times (1890), he reorganized the foreign department, instituted the Times book club and Times Literary Supplement, published the Times Atlas, and republished the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
March 24 - Earl of Portsmouth Dinner, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
March 26 - Gilbert Parker Dinner, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
April 3 - Select Committee Hearing, House of Lords, London, England - Remarks on Copyright
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 335-336.
May 2 - Royal Literary Fund, Hotel Cecil, London, England - "Literature"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 337-338.
May 9 - St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, England - Speech or Story - text not available
May 30 - Canon Wilberforce Dinner, Wilberforce's Drawing Room, London, England - "Joan of Arc"
June 9 - Henry Irving Dinner, Hotel Savoy, London, England - "The Drama"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 338-339.
Also in The New York Times, July 7, 1900
June 10 - Magdalen College Luncheon, Oxford, London, England - Remarks - text not available
June 10 - Savage Club, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
June 22 - The Kinsmen, London, England - Stories - text not available
June 24 - Athenaeum Club, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
June 29 - Lord Mayor's Luncheon, London, England - Speech - text not available
From Budd's update:
July ? - Forthcoming lecture on Joan of Arc
See London Daily Mail, 29 June 1900, p. 3.
July 4 - American Society, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
July 7 - Savage Club, Mark Twain Chairman, London, England - Speeches - text not available
September 27 - Reading Room Opening, Kensal Rise, London, England - Remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 340-341.
October 15 - Dockside, New York City - Travelogue
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 342-343.
Also in The New York Times, October 16, 1900.
October 17 - Galveston Orphans Bazaar, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 344-346.
October 27 - Woman's Press Club Tea, Carnegie Hall, New York City - Remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 346-348.
November 10 - Lotos Club Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 349-352.
Also in The New York Times, November 17, 1900.
November 12 - Press Club Reception, New York City - Three Speeches
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 353-355.
November 15 - Society of American Authors Reception, Delmonico's, New York City. Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 356-357.
Also in The New York Times, November 16, 1900.
November 20 - Nineteenth Century Club, Sherry's, New York City - Speech - "Disappearance of Literature"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 358-359.
November 23 - Annual Meeting of the Public Education Association, Berkeley Lyceum, New York City - Remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 360-362.
December 4 - Aldine Association, New York City. Dinner Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, the dinner for Mark Twain attracted an overflow crowd. Bishop Potter was there, Augustus Thomas, Joe Jefferson, F. Hopkinson Smith, the Reverend Dr. Mackay, John Fox, Jr., Matthews, Bangs, Gilder, Winston Churchill (the American novelist), Owen Wister, George Putnam, Hutton, Charles Scribner, Isador Straus, Major Pond, Captain Joshua Slocum, Frank Doubleday, Colonel Harvey, and many others. The chairman was Hamilton W. Mabie. He and Mark Twain sat within a simulated pilot house, from the corners of which descended streamers of colored lights. On the cornice was Alonzo Child, the name of a Mississippi steamboat Sam Clemens had piloted. Hanging moss, oranges and gourds decorated the walls, and there were catfish in glass tanks. Mark Twain found in these adornments the principal themes for his speech, described as "reminiscent and constantly delightful." He had requested that his words not be reported by the press because, he said, public tributes already paid to him fully satisfied the public need.
See the news story in The New York Times, December 15, 1900. A photo of Clemens at the dinner is online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/A.html
December 6 - St. Nicholas Society, Delmonico's, New York City - "Our City"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 363-365.
December 11 - Meeting of Missourians, New York City - Speech - text not available
December 12 - Introducing Winston Churchill, Grand Ballroom, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 367-369.
1901
January 4 - City Club, New York City - "Municiple Corruption"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 370-372.
January 7 - Home of Henry H. Rogers, New York City - Stories and Readings - "Ornithorhyncus, " "German, " "Watermelon," "Dead Man," "Ram," "Mexican Plug," "Christening"
January 16 - Tavern Club, Boston, Massachusetts - Dinner Speech - text not available
January 20 - Hebrew Technical School, Temple Eman-El, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 374-376.
Also published in The New York Times, January 21, 1901.
January 24 - Thursday Evening Club, New York City - Story - text not available
January 31 - Winston Churchill Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
February 2 - University Settlement Society, Rivington and Eldridge Streets, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 377-380.
Also reported in The New York Times, February 3, 1901
February 11 - Lincoln Celebration, Carnegie Hall, New York City - Remarks as Chairman
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 381-383.
Also reported in The New York Times, February 12, 1901
February 18 - David Munro Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
David Alexander Munro (d. 1910) was general manager of the North American Review (1889-96), editor (1896-99), then assistant editor when Harvey bought the Review in 1899.
February 27 - State Senate Committee, Albany, New York - Remarks on Osteopathy
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 384-388.
Also reported in The New York Times, February 28, 1901
February 28 - State Senate, Albany, New York - Remarks on Water Supply
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 389.
March 2 - University Club, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
March 7 - Thursday Evening Club, Home of Prof. W. M. Sloane, 109 East 69th Street, New York City - Reading - "The Californian's Tale"
The New York Times of March 8, 1901, p. 7 reported Twain read an unfinished story identified as "The California Friend." However, according to Leslie Myrick of the Mark Twain Papers, Twain's personal notebook indicates he read "The Californian's Tale." Sherry's Hungarian Band played during the evening.
March 12 - William Dean Howells Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
March 16 - Male Teachers Association, Hotel Albert, East 11th and University Place, New York City - "Training that Pays"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 390-391.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 17, 1901
March 23 - Benjamin B. Odell Dinner, Lotos Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 392-394.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 24, 1901.
March 28 - Players Club Dinner, New York City - Speech or Story - text not available
March 29 - Pascal Institute Branch of the New York Tribune Sunshine Society, Boys Debate, New York City - Speech - text not available
The New York Tribune of April 1, 1901 reported, "He said that in one of the experiences of his life he had become aware of the fact that he had done something that he ought to be sorry for, but could not determine just which detail of the occurrence was most deserving of his penitence. So it became necessary to call in an arbiter, a dispassionate judge, to decide the matter. In relating the story which set forth his iniquitous act and its consequent psychological effects, up to the climatic judgment of the arbiter, there was not a moment devoid of mirth to the listeners." ("An Interesting Occasion," New York Tribune, 1 April 1901, p. 5.) Courtesy of Leslie Myrick.
March 30 - Poughkeepsie Eastman Club, Twenty-third Street, Y.M.C.A. Hall, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 395-397.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 31, 1901.
April 6 - Smith College Luncheon, New York City - Remarks
According to Paul Fatout, Mark Twain and Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke were the chief attractions on this occasion. Mark Twain told the story of the tight shoes that refused to go on, then said, according to the Times, April 8, 1901: "When I come to a gathering like this, I feel that I should like to be an aspirant for political honors; I should like to be elected the belle of New York so that I could come to these luncheons all the time." The girls gave him a standing tribute of hearty applause and by acclamation elected him "Annual Guest."
April 27 - Brooklyn Clerical Union Speech, Montauk Club, Brooklyn, New York - Speech
Reported in New York Sun, April 29, 1901, p. 1.
Reported in San Francisco Call, April 29, 1901, p. 3.
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Adam.html
April 29 Hamilton Mabie Dinner, University Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 398-399.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 4, 1901.
May 9 - Student Audience, Alexander Hall, Princeton, New Jersey - Speech on sin; readings - "Dead Man," "German," "Mexican Plug," "Ram"
Reported in New York Sun, May 10, 1901.
Reported in The New York Times, May 10, 1901.
May 10 - Harvard-Princeton Debate, Princeton, New Jersey - Remarks - text not available
May 11 - Normal College Alumnae, New York City - Readings - "German," "Tale of a Fishwife"
Reported in The New York Times, May 12, 1901.
May 27 - J. H. Rosenberg's, New York City - Talk to Boys - text not available
May 28 - Missouri Society, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 401-402.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 29, 1901.
August 5 - Laying cornerstone of new Unitarian Church, New Bedford, Massachusetts - Speech honoring Henry H. Rogers
Reprinted in Hartford Daily Courant, August 8, 1901, p. 10 "Mark Twain's Latest Speech" which reprinted New Bedford Standard
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Rogers.html
August 14 - Young People, Bar Harbor, Maine - On Speech-Making
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 403.
October 17 - The Acorns Dinner, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - "Edmund Burke on Croker and Tammany"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 404-412.
Also reported in The New York Times, October 18, 1901.
October 29 - Order of Acorns Rally, 350 Broadway, New York City - Two Speeches
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 414-415.
Also reported in The New York Times, October 30, 1901.
November 6 - Acorns Jubilee, New York City - Mock Eulogy of Tammany
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 415-416.
Also reported in The New York Times, November 7, 1901.
November 7 - Good Citizenship Association, East Side Settlement House, Seventy-sixty Street and East River, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 418-419.
Also reported in The New York Times, November 8, 1901.
November 9 - British in New York Celebrate King's Birthday, Delmonico's, New York City - Speech
Text of Twain's speech published in The New York Times, November 10, 1901, p. 9 "Britons Here Toast Their King, Edward."
Also in Chicago Daily Tribune, "Gotham British Honor the King," November 10, 1901, p. 5.
November 16 - Joseph H. Choate Dinner, Lotos Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 420-422.
Also reported in The New York Times, November 17, 1901.
November 30 - St. Andrews Society, Delmonico's, New York City - "Scotch Humor"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 423-425.
Also reported in The New York Times, December 1, 1901.
December 19 - Debating Club, New York City - Remarks - text not available
December 31 - Players Club Founding Night, New York City - Speech - text not available
In Notebook 34, 1901, MTP, Mark Twain outlined a plan for his midnight speech: Joe Jefferson to introduce him and lavishly praise the Players Club, he (Mark Twain) to respond by negating the praise with uncomplimentary remarks about the club.
1902
January 16 - Civic Club, Riverdale, New York - Talk or Reading - text not available
January 28 - Rockefeller Bible Class, New York City - Stories - "How to Reach an Emperor" or "Message to the Director General" - text not available.
An article in the New York Sun, "Mark Twain At Bible Class," January 29, 1902, p. 2 reported: "Mark sat in the pastor's high-backed chair behind the pulpit and joined in the opening hymn, keeping time with one hand and one foot. He didn't have a brand new speech, so he read his story "Message to the Director General," published recently. He was introduced as jester and philosopher, and replied that he wished he could collect salaries for all the different things he had been called."
Also reported in The New York Times, January 29, 1902.
January 31 - Yale Alumni, Allyn Hall, Hartford, Connecticut - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 426-427.
February 14 - Public School, New York City - Stories - "Death-Disk," "Tale No. 2" - text not available
February 18 - Boys Club, New York City - Stories - text not available
March 8 - Society of Medical Jurisprudence, Hotel Savoy, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 429-431.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 9, 1902.
From Budd's update:
April 19 - Monday Evening Club, Home of Laurence Hutton, Princeton, New Jersey - Speech - "Patriotism" and "A Defense of General Funston"
See Zwick's Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire, pp. 112 -113. (This is probably the speech that Helen Keller, with some fusing of details, recalls in Midstream: My Later Life, pp. 48-49. The group met on Saturday. See article in Daily Princetonian, April 21, 1902, p. 1. This item indexed in Mark Twain Journal, Spring 2004 issue which states Twain spoke on "Patriotism" and read proofs of "A Defense of General Funston."
Also reported in The New York Times, April 21, 1902
April 20 - Wallack's Theater, New York City - Introduction Speech for Clara Morris
Reported in "Clara Morris Tells of Stage Life Trials,"
Also reported in The New York Times, April 21, 1902, p. 2 and the New York Sun, April 21, 1902, p. 4.
May 1 - For Mrs. George W. Bartholomew, New York City - Reading - text not available
May 29 - Pilot's Society, St. Louis, Missouri - Short address - text not available.
The St. Louis Republic of May 30, 1902, p. 1-2 in an article titled "'Mark Twain' Comes Back to Missouri" reported Mississippi river men had gathered in force and a short address was made. See Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews, edited by Gary Scharnhorst, (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2006), p. 432.
May 29 - Merchants Exchange, St. Louis, Missouri - Speech - remarks quoted in "Mark Twain Laughs in Grain Pitts," St. Louis Star, 29 May 1902, 1,7.
Reprinted in Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews, edited by Gary Scharnhorst, (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2006), p. 412-413.
May 30 - Decoration Day / Memorial Day, Presbyterian Church, Hannibal, Missouri - Chairman - Speech on patriotism - partial texts reprinted in "Mark Twain Dines with His Sweetheart of Old Time Days, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 31 May 1902, pp. 1-2 and "Affection of Old Friends Moves Mark Twain to Tears," St. Louis Republic, 31 May 1902, p. 1. See Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews, edited by Gary Scharnhorst, (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2006), pp. 439-440 and 441.
May 30 - High School Graduation, Park Theatre, Hannibal, Missouri - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 431-434.
May 31 - Reception, 1901 High School Graduating Class, Windsor Hotel, Hannibal, Missouri - Remarks - tells of his childhood attempt to get the measles. Remarks summarized in "Mark Twain Visits his Old Sweetheart," St. Louis Republic, 1 Jun 1902, Sec III, p. 1. See Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews, edited by Gary Scharnhorst, (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2006), p. 447.
May 31 - Labinnah Club, Hannibal, Missouri - Remarks - text not available
June 1 - Sunday School, Hannibal, Missouri - Story
Paine's Mark Twain: A Biography, Volume 3, page 1169, quotes Mark Twain as follows: "Little boys and girls, I want to tell you a story which illustrates the value of perseverance--of sticking to your work, as it were. It is a story very proper for a Sunday school. When I was a little boy in Hannibal I used to play a good deal up here on Holliday's Hill, which of course you all know. John Briggs and I played up there. I don't suppose there are any little boys as good as we were then, but of course that is not to be expected. Little boys in those days were 'most always good little boys, because those were the good old times when everything was better than it is now, but never mind that." He told the story of the man, putting in a blast, who got blown up, went out of sight, came down in the same place and went on drilling. Then he concluded: "Little boys and girls, that's the secret of success, just like that poor but honest workman on Holliday's Hill. Of course you won't always be appreciated. He wasn't. His employer was a hard man, and on Saturday night when he paid him he docked him fifteen minutes for the time he was up in the air--but never mind he had his reward."
June 1 - Fifth Street Baptist Church, Hannibal, Missouri - Speech - reprinted in Chicago Daily Tribune, June 6, 1902
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Preaching.html
Another version of the text of this speech appears in "Mark Twain Takes a Drive with His Schoolmate's Pretty Daughter," St. Louis Post-Dispatch , 2 Jun 1902, p. 5. See Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews, edited by Gary Scharnhorst, (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2006), p. 450.
June 2 - Mr. Cruikshank's home, Hannibal, Missouri - Remarks - text not available
June 3 - St. Joseph Academy, Hannibal, Missouri - Talk - text not available
June 3 - Phi Beta Kappa Dinner, Columbia, Missouri - Dinner Speech
The candidates for honorary degrees were guests of honor on this occasion. As reported by the Columbia, Missouri Herald, June 6,1902, Mark Twain entertained the audience by making joking remarks about the previous speeches of Messrs. Hitchcock, Wilson, and Galloway. The latter had mentioned a goat. "Mr. Clemens said that he greatly honored the goat, and thought goats ought to he editing half the magazines of the country. When he was young he wrote a very fine article which he carried to every magazine and principal newspaper he could find, carried it twice, and they all refused it. A goat took it at once, and showed himself much wiser than any of the editors. He did not know exactly what a curator was, what he cured, but he was satisfied that the University was being properly managed, and, as an old Missourian, he was proud of it. He said that language could not express his appreciation of the honors the University had conferred upon him. He did not know what he could do, but that as one way of expressing his gratitude he would give the library a set of his books, which he was certain contained everything that was not in any other books." Phi Beta Kappa made him an honorary member.
June 4 - University of Missouri Commencement, Columbia, Missouri - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 435-439.
Also reported in The New York Times, June 5, 1902.
June 5 - Rochambeau Reception, St. Louis Club, St. Louis, Missouri - Remarks
See story from St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 7, 1902, page 1.
June 6 - Christening of Harbor Boat Mark Twain, St. Louis, Missouri - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 440-441.
Also reported in The New York Times, June 7, 1902.
June 6 - Unveiling Eugene Field Tablet, St. Louis, Missouri - Remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 442.
Also reported in St. Louis Globe Democrat, June 7, 1902, page 1.
June 6 - University Club, St. Louis, Missouri - Remarks on his recent visit to Missouri
Text published in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8 Jun 1902. See Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews, edited by Gary Scharnhorst, (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2006), p. 463.
June 7 - Art Students Association, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Louis, Missouri - Speech on Art
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 443-446.
June 17 - General Horace Porter Dinner, Lotos Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 447-452.
Also reported in The New York Times, June 18, 1902.
June (?) - Alfred Corning Clark, Neighborhood House - Stories - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, Alfred Corning Clark (1845-96) was a philanthropist who used his fortune for humanitarian purposes, like the Neighborhood House, and for assisting struggling artists, one of whom was the young American sculptor, George Grey Barnard.
August 5 - 250th Anniversary, York, Maine - Speech
A pamphlet, Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Town of York, Maine, York Public Library, pp. 119-20, summarizes his speech: "Mr. Clemens [said] ... that he had come to York to instruct it in its ancient history, to rectify the morals of its inhabitants and to otherwise do valuable things in the way of didactics. He found himself prevented from doing so by the example of another, and noted with surprise that Thomas B. Reed should mistake a desk for a pulpit, especially as the speaker was the one who, in time gone by, had amazed the nations of the world, the human race, and, added Mr. Clemens, 'even myself!'. . . In thirty-seven days he had had no fault to find with the weather as he had stayed strictly at home, and the rain seemed to come only when it thought it could catch one out. For thirty-four of the thirty-seven days he had worked and that was something he never before had been able to do. The climate, he thought, prevented moral deterioration, for he had worked four Sundays without breaking the Sabbath.... One of the most serious questions with which he had to contend in York was matches. If he wished to smoke it was next to impossible to get a light. He could buy only a sort of match with a picture of the inventor on each box and labeled 'Safety.' He felt free to say that they are so safe one cannot light them. Even Satan, the inventor and a distant relative of his, can't use them for he has no appliances to make them go, and is utilizing them to build cold storage vaults for such choice morsels as Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander VI; and, added the speaker, 'he has a wistful eye on some other notables not yet started, and here present.' Another serious question ... was the confusion of post offices in this town--York Cliffs, York Beach, York Harbor, York Village, York Corner, and so on. In fact, one cannot throw a brickbat across a thirty-seven acre lot without danger of disabling a postmaster; they are as thick as aldermen in the days of the old city charter. If he stayed here he expected to attend York's tri-centennial in fifty years, for already he had grown younger by many years than he was on his arrival."
October 25 - Laurence Hutton Dinner, Princeton, New Jersey - Talk or Story - text not available
After the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson as president of Princeton University, Hutton assembled a dinner group which included former President Cleveland, Mark Twain, Stedman, Thomas B. Reed, Richard Watson Gilder, Henry Rogers, Colonel George Harvey, and others.
November 28 - Sixty-seventh Birthday Dinner, Metropolitan Club, New York City. Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 453-459.
Also reported in The New York Times, November 30, 1902
December 19 - Unidentified Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
December 20 - Home of Mrs. Dimock, For Mrs. George W. Bartholomew, New York City - Reading - "Belated Russian Passport" and "Was it Heaven? Or Hell?"
1903
January 6 - David Munro Dinner, New York City - Dinner speech - text not available
February 5 - Colonel George Harvey Dinner, New York City - Dinner speech - text not available
February 6 - Century Club, New York City. Dinner speech - text not available
February 24 - William Dean Howells Dinner, Boston, Massachusetts - Dinner speech - text not available
March 28 - Sidney Lee Dinner hosted by Andrew Carnegie, 92nd Street and Fifth Avenue, New York City - Dinner speech - text not available
Sidney Lee (1859-1926) was assistant editor of The Dictionary of National Biography (1883-90), then became chief editor (1891). In Mark Twain in Eruption, pages: 331-38, Mark Twain describes the extreme shyness of the guest of honor and the hemming and hawing of such practiced speakers as Howells, Carl Schurz, Richard Watson Gilder, and Melville Stone, all of whom seemed affected by Lee's timidity. Brander Matthews remarks, The Tocsin of Revolt, page 272, that "When Mark's turn came, he soared aloft in whimsical exaggeration, casually dropping a reference to the time when he had lent Carnegie a million dollars. Our smiling host promptly interjected: 'That had slipped my memory!' And Mark looked down on him solemnly, and retorted: 'Then the next time, I'll take a receipt.' "
April 23 - St. George Society, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
September 6 - Associated Press, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
October 22 - Dinner for Mark Twain, Metropolitan Club, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
Colonel George Harvey was host at this farewell dinner for Mark Twain, who was about to sail for Italy with his family. Among guests were W. D. Howells, J. P. Morgan, Henry H. Rogers, William M. Laffan, Henry Mills Alden, Hamlin Garland, J. Henry Harper, John Kendrick Bangs, John I. Waterbury, James H. Hyde, T. Jefferson Coolidge, Jr., George G. Ward, Will N. Harben, Bram Stoker, Edward Lauterbach, E. A. Ditmar, St. Clair McKelway, F. A. Dunkea, and Melville Stone, F. T. Leigh, A. D. Chandler, and James MacArthur.
Reported in the New York Sun of October 23, 1903, p. 7 as taking place "last evening."
1904
February 29 - Benefit, Florentine British Relief Fund, Rinuccini Theater, Florence, Italy - "Italian Without Grammar"
According to the English language Italian Gazette, n.d.: "The great humorist looked as full of vitality as ever though it was plain that he was labouring under a stress of emotion, and at times he nervously tore the paper he was holding in his hands. At the end of his talk, with a break in his voice, he bade his hearers good-night, and everyone admires his generous courage when it was known that he had left Mrs. Clemens at home seriously ill."
San Francisco Call of 7 April 1904 gives the location as Rinucinni Theater.
1905
August 28, 1905 - Luncheon at home of Professor Michael I. Pupin, Norfolk, Connecticut. - Remarks regarding his gout.
See Mark Twain Journal, Spring 2007, "Mark Twain at Norfolk, 1904 - 1906" by Robin R. Yurán.
From Budd's update:
October 25 - Authors Club, Residence of Prof. J. H. Wright, corner of Broadway and Quincy Street, Cambridge, Boston, Massachusetts - Speech - text not available
See Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliot, Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1925), p. 169-170. See also Rufus A. Coleman, "Trowbridge and Clemens," Modern Language Quarterly, 9 (June 1948) p. 216-23; rpt. in Mark Twain's Humor: Critical Essays, ed. David E. E. Sloane (New York: Garland, 1993).
Reported in the Boston Globe, October 26, 1905, p. 14, "Reception to Mark Twain"
October 26 - Round Table Club, home of John B. Blake, 178 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts - Stories - text not available
Reported in the Boston Globe, October 27, 1905, p. 3, "At Round Table Club"
November 4 - Twentieth Century Club, Boston, Massachusetts - Remarks
Reprinted by Budd in Essays in Arts and Sciences, October 2000. His text from New York World, November 5, 1905, p. 6. Also in Boston Daily Advertiser, November 6, p. 4. Also Boston Globe, Nov. 5, 1905, p. 32 Also "Mark Twain Talks Peace" in Chicago Daily Tribune, p. 1.
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/Peace.html
November 25 - Dinner, Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C. - Remarks - text not available
Hosted by Colonel Harvey; guests included Secretary Root, Secretary Taft and Wayne MacVeagh
Reported in Washington Times, November 27, 1905, p. 1.
December 5 - Seventieth Birthday Dinner, Delmonico's, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 462-467.
Also reported in The New York Times, December 6, 1905
December 18 - Benefit Matinee for Russian Jews, Casino, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 468-471.
December 21 - Society of Illustrators, Aldine Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 472-476.
Also reported in The New York Times, December 22, 1905
1906
January 3 - Dinner for Mark Twain, Players' Club New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
Brander Matthews served as chairman. Also present were Richard Watson Gilder and artist Frank Millet. Mark Twain's speech was received so enthusiastically that he responded with an encore, "The jumping Frog." For his comments on the dinner, see Paine's edition of Mark Twain's Autobiography, Volume 1, pp. 279-81.
January 22 - Tuskegee Institute Meeting, Carnegie Hall, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 478-481.
Also reported in The New York Times, January 23, 1906
January 25 - Unidentified Club, Washington, D.C. - Dinner Speech - text not available
In a dictation of January 23, 1906, MTP, Mark Twain says that for this occasion he thought of giving the old Whittier dinner speech of 1877, but rejected the idea.
January 27 - Gridiron Club, New Williard, Washington, D.C. - Dinner Speech - text not available
According to the Washington Post, January 28, 1906, the theme was "A Night in Panama." Mark Twain, introduced as a Mississippi River roustabout, spoke for twenty minutes, but the Gridiron Club had a rule that speeches not be reported by the press.
January 29 - House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. - Remarks on copyright - text not available
February 7 - Manhattan Dickens Fellowship, Press Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 482-484.
Also reported in The New York Times, February 8, 1906
February 14 - Alden Luncheon, New York City- Speech or Story - text not available
Henry Mills Alden (1836-1919) was managing editor of Harper's Weekly (1863), then editor of Harper's Magazine (1869), where he remained thereafter.
February 14 - Keats-Shelley Matinee, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Remarks - text not available
This musical entertainment at the Waldorf was given to aid the Keats-Shelley Memorial in Rome. Mark Twain, who sat on stage with Edmund Clarence Stedman, Ruth McEnery Stuart, Henry Van Weir Mitchell, and F. Hopkinson Smith, read a poem. According to Hamlin Hill, God's Fool, page 164, he said he "took some whiskey, and just enough to bring cobwebs and make him forget the things he was going to say."
February 16 - Ends of the Earthers, Third Annual Dinner, Savoy Hotel, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 485-486.
Reported in The New York Times, February 17, 1906
February 19 - Pilgrims of the U.S., New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
February (?) - General Miles Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
Late February or Early March - Unknown Function, New York City - Introducing Dr. Henry Van Dyke
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 487-491.
March 4 - West Side Y.M.C.A., Majestic Theatre, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 492-494.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 5, 1906
March 7 - Barnard College Union Reception for Mark Twain, Columbia University, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 495-502.
March 8 - Freundschaft Society, Park Avenue and Seventy-second Street, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 503-505.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 9, 1906
March 20 - Bohemians, Hoffbrauhaus, New York City - Remarks - text not available
March 29 - New York State Association for Promoting the Interests of the Blind, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria New York City - Chairman - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 506-510.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 30, 1906
April 2 - Vassar Aid Benefit, Hudson Theatre, New York City - Remarks - text not available
According to Paul Fatout: Three short plays were staged at the Hudson Theatre on behalf of the Vassar Students Aid Society. Afterward, in an informal reception on the stage, he shook hands and autographed programs. To sign programs he rested them on the shoulder of Miss T. V. Dickson, one of the ushers. "A nice quiet little desk," he said, that he wished he could keep. He also kissed a good many of the ladies, especially the young ones. He had such a good time with the Vassar girls that he did not make it to the Museum of Natural History, where the governor general of Canada and other very important persons were anxiously waiting for him to take part in some unknown function.
April 3 - Women's University Club, New York City - Remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 511-512.
Also reported in The New York Times, April 4, 1906
Apriil 7 - Smith College Alumnae, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Tight Shoes Story
Reported in The New York Times, April 8, 1906
April 11 - Gorky Dinner, Club A House, 3 Fifth Avenue, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 513-514.
Also reported in The New York Times, April 12, 1906
April 19 - Fulton Monument Benefit, Carnegie Hall, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 515-518.
Reported in The New York Times, April 20, 1906
From Budd's update:
c. 19 April - New York City - Remarks - text not available
Twain may have spoken on simplified spelling around this date. See: "Mark Twain on Spelling Reform," Atlanta Constitution, April 22, 1906. Online at:
http://www.twainquotes.com/Spelling.html
April 21 - San Francisco Earthquake Relief Meeting, Casino, New York City - Remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 519-520.
Reported in The New York Times, April 22, 1906
April 23 - Old Guard's Eightieth Anniversary, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Story - text not available
According to a report in The New York Times, April 24, 1906, during the speech-making, a concealed versifier composed doggerel about the speakers, and shouted it to the audience through a megaphone. Mark Twain, who arrived late, inspired a satirical jingle about his wild mane of white hair. He thanked the Old Guard for his fine reception, told a story, and was presented with a bouquet of roses.
April 24 - Billiard Exhibition, Concert Hall, Madison Square Garden, New York City - Story
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 519-520.
Summer - Informal Club, Dublin, New Hampshire - Charity Reading - text not available
During the charity speech a lady who kept on knitting while he was talking provoked a Twainian temper tantrum, and he stormed out. See Hamlin Hill, Mark Twain:God's Fool, pp. 117-18.
September 1 - Country Club, Dublin - Speech-making Experiment - text not available
September 8 - Village, Dublin - Speech-making Experiment - text not available
September 19 - Associated Press Banquet, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 522-526.
Also reported in The New York Times, September 20, 1906
September 22 - Clara Clemens Concert, Eldridge Gymnasium, Norfolk, Connecticut - Remarks
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 528-529.
October ? - Midnight Supper for Henry B. Irving given by James K. Hackett, New York City - Likely made remarks - text not available
Reported in "Gossip of the Stage," Washington Post, Oct. 14, 1906, p. B2. Those in attendance included Augustus Thomas, Brander Matthews, E. H. Sothern, Melville Stone, of the Associated Press; John Drew, Henry W. Savage, Daniel Frohman, George Ade, William Gillette, and Nat Goodwin.
October 27 - Saturday Morning Club, Hartford - Talk or Story - text not available
November 8 - National Arts Club, New York City - Speech - text not available
December 7 - Congressional Committee on Patents, Washington D.C. - Remarks on Copyright
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 533-539.
Also reported in The New York Times, December 8, 1906
December 31 - Dinner Party for Clara Clemens, 21 Fifth Avenue, New York City - Burlesque on Temperance
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 541-542.
Also reported in The New York Times, January 1, 1907
1907
January 26 - Senator William Andrews Clark Dinner, Union League Club, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
A US senator from Montana, William Andrews Clark (1839-1925) had made a fortune in Colorado and Montana in mining, banking, and railroads. He had a palatial residence on Fifth Avenue and a gallery of art treasures. See Mark Twain in Eruption, pp. 70-77. Although Paul Fatout records this event as one where Twain did speak, it is not evident from Twain's retelling of this event in Mark Twain in Eruption that he did actually make a speech,
February 11 - Robert Collier Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
February 14 - Keats-Shelley Memorial fundraiser, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Readings
The New York Times on February 15, 1907, p. 11 reported that Twain read Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark" and Browning's "Ah, did you once see Shelley plain?" Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/19070215.html
The New York Sun in a story titled "Keats-Shelley Matinee" on February 15, 1907, p. 6 reported: Mark Twain read Shelley's "To a Skylark," and Browning's "Memorabilia" -- a word, he said, that he never could pronounce. Before "To a Skylark," Mr. Clemens said, "In that long ago time, the happiest of my life, I read that poem more than any other to my wife. Hers was a beautiful nature. Her heart touched this poem and it is sacred to me. I think it is not only the most famous lyric in the English language, but the most beautiful in any language."
February 22 - Ladies Tea, Columbia University, New York City - Remarks - text not available
March 12 - College Women's Club, New York City - Remarks - text not available
March 23 - Ambassador James Bryce Dinner, Waldorf-Astoria, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
News report in the New York Sun, March 24, 1907, p. 4, "Bryce Guest of Pilgrims."
March 27 - Luncheon for Count Spiridovitch, St. Regis Hotel, New York City - Comments - text not available
Reported in The New York Times, March 28, 1907
April 3 - Park Church, Elmira, New York - Remarks
See Mark Twain in Elmira, pp. 80-81
Also Allison R. Ensor's Our Big New Organ Industry (Quarry Farm Papers, 2005)
April 8 - Ambassador Charlemagne Tower Dinner, Manhattan Club, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
The Washington Post reported this affair in an article on April 9, 1907, p. 5 but did not indicate that Twain gave a speech although it did list him as a guest.
April 14 - Children's Theatre, Alliance Building, East Broadway, New York City - Curtain Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 546-547.
Also reported in The New York Times, April 15, 1907.
May 4 - Tea and Reception, Tuxedo Park, New York City - Talk or Story - text not available
May 6 - Actors Fund Fair, Metropolitan Opera House, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 548-549.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 7, 1907.
May 9 - First Presbyterian Church Benefit, Annapolis, Maryland - "Watermelon Story," "Dead Man," and "A Ghost Story"
See "Mark Twain's Visit to Annapolis," by Charles J. Nolan, Jr. and David O. Tomlinson in Mark Twain Journal, 25:2, Fall, 1987, pp. 2-8.
May 10 - Government House, Annapolis, Maryland - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 550-554.
Also published in The New York Times, May 12, 1907.
May 22 - Dinner for George Harvey, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
June 15 - S. S. Minneapolis, at sea - Reading, Autobiography - text not available
June 19 - Society of Women journalists, London, England - Remarks - text not available
June 21 - American Embassy, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
The Chicago Daily Tribune on June 22, 1907, p. 3. reported in an article titled "Mark Twain Cut it Out" that Twain did not deliver the speech he had prepared because the program called for only informal chats and that no addresses were delivered.
June 24 - Legion of Frontiersmen, London, England - Remarks - text not available
June 25 - Society of the Pilgrims Luncheon, Hotel Savoy, London, England - "Books, Authors, and Hats"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 558-562.
June 26 - All Souls Luncheon, Oxford, England - Remarks - text not available
June 26 - Christ Church Dinner, Oxford, England - "Honorary Doctors" - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, Mark Twain made the mistake of wearing black evening dress, which was a drab contrast to the scarlet academic garb of other diners. He said he felt as out of place as a Presbyterian in hell.
June 28 - Rhodes Scholars, Oxford, England - Remarks - text not available
June 29 - Army School Pupils, Stratford, England - Remarks - text not available
According to the London Times, July 1, 1907, he "mentioned that he had once been a soldier for two weeks during the American Civil War, but his experiences were such that he did not care to remember them. Looking upon the budding warriors before him, he sincerely wished them a better liking for their lot than his had been and more of it. The mayor, he understood, had wished to award him civic honours, but his request was that his visit might be considered a personal one to Miss [Marie] Corelli."
June 29 - Lord Mayor's Dinner for the Savage Club, Mansion House, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 564-566.
Also reported in The New York Times, June 30, 1907.
July 1 - Dominion Day Dinner, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
July 2 - Sir John Henniker Heaton Luncheon, London, England - Remarks - text not available
July 4 - American Society Dinner, Hotel Cecil, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 567-571.
July 6 - Savage Club, London, England - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 572-576.
July 8 - Plasmon Luncheon, London, England - Talk or Story - text not available
July 9 - House of Commons Luncheon, London, England - Remarks - text not available
Summary of his remarks were reported in Chicago Daily Tribune, July 10, 1907, p. 3 in an article titled "Twain Takes Up Task for Briton."
July 9 - Punch Dinner, London, England - Dinner Speech - text not available
July 10 - Lord Mayor's Dinner, Town Hall, Liverpool, England - "Begum of Bengal"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 577-583.
July 20 - S.S. Minnetonka, at sea - Stories - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, at the ship's concert Mark Twain was reported to have talked for an hour, in the course of which he told the sock-hunting story and others.
September 23 - Fulton Day, Jamestown Exposition, Jamestown, Virginia - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 587-589.
October (?) - Welcome for Right Reverend Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram, Lord Bishop of London, New York City (?) - Welcome Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 590-594.
There is no record that Twain actually delivered this speech.
October 15 (?) - Unidentified Function, Tuxedo Park, New York City - Reading - text not available
Autumn - Players Dinner, New York City - Stories - "General Miles and the Dog" - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, George C. Riggs was host, and among guests were William Dean Howells, Edward Burlingame, David Bispham, Nicholas Biddle, and David Munro.
November 11 - Homeopathic Society, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
November 12 - Colony Club, New York City - Speech - text not available
November 19 - Children's Theatre, Educational Alliance Building, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 596-597.
Also reported in The New York Times, November 20, 1907
November 20 - Players Club, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
December 9 - Associated Society of Engineers Dinner for Andrew Carnegie, Engineer's Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 597-599.
Also reported in The New York Times, December 10, 1907
December 22 - Pleiades Club, Hotel Breevort, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 600-602.
Also reported in The New York Times, December 23, 1907
December 28 - Dinner for William Dean Howells, Laurel House, Lakewood, New Jersey - Dinner Speech - text not available
Twain's speech was summarized in The New York Times, "Dinner to W. D. Howells, " December 29, 1907, p. 9.
Online at: http://www.twainquotes.com/19071229.html
December 31 - New Year's Eve Luncheon hosted by Mark Twain, New York City - Remarks
Reported in the Boston Daily Globe, January 2, 1908, p. 8, "One on O'Sullivan" - the paper reported that the guests were Denis O'Sullivan, the Irish singer, Finley Peter Dunne, Col. George Harvey and George Woods. The article summarized Twain's remarks which were based on a dream by his daughter Clara about William Dean Howells.
Reported in the Washington Times, "Mark Twain Jokes Friend About Joke," January 2, 1908, p. 8. Following an account of Denis O'Sullivan's speech describing a new variety of a game of billiards, the Washington Times gave the text of Twain's speech as follows:
"I have greatly enjoyed the account of this new game, he said, "because it reminds me of a story my daughter Clara told me this morning. Clara doesn't often dream, but she dreamed last night, and she told me about it. She said she thought she heard William Dean Howells telling a funny anecdote, the gist of which she could not catch. The tale, however, was followed by a perfect Niagara of laughter and handclapping. Therefore she was provoked because she had lost the point.
" 'Now, I can just tell you all about that story,' said I. 'How is that?' she asked. 'Well,' said I, 'Mr. Howells has but one funny story, and that hasn't a point to it. But, of course, one must applaud.' "
1908
January 10 - Robert Collier Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
January 11 - Lotos Club, 558 Fifth Avenue, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 603-610.
Also reported in The New York Times, January 12, 1908
January 14 - Doe Luncheon, New York City - Remarks - text not available
February 11 - Doe Luncheon, New York City. Remarks - text not available
February 11 - Andrew Carnegie Dinner, New York City - Dinner Speech - text not available
February 13 - Clara Clemens Musicale, New York City - Remarks - text not available
February 13 - Supper and Ball, Sherry's - New York City - Remarks - text not available
February 19 - Whitelaw Reid Dinner, Pilgrim's Club, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 612-614.
March 1 - Informal Group, Hamilton, Bermuda - Reading, Kipling - text not available
March 5 - Benefit for Bermuda Cottage Hospital, Princess Hotel ballrooom, Hamilton, Bermuda - Speech - "General Miles and the Dog"
Reported in Bermuda Royal Gazette, March 7, 1908. See Mark Twain in Paradise, p. 111.
March 27 - Reading for Mary Allen Hulbert Peck, Shoreby House, Hamilton, Bermuda - Reading from Kipling's poems - text not available
Reported in Bermuda Royal Gazette, March 31, 1908. See Mark Twain in Paradise, p. 108.
April 6 - Children of Garrison school, Hamilton, Bermuda - Cat Story
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 616-617.
Reported in The New York Times, April 19, 1908
April 9 - Benefit Agar's Island Aquarium, Colonial Opera House, Hamilton, Bermuda - Speech - "Caprices of Memory"
Reported in Bermuda Royal Gazette, April l1, 1908. See Mark Twain in Paradise, p. 123-125.
April 18 - Humorists and Cartoonists Beefsteak Dinner, Reisenweber's, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 619.
Also reported in The New York Times, April 19, 1908
April 23 - Children's Theatre, Educational Alliance Building, New York City - Curtain Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, p. 620
Also reported in The New York Times, April 24, 1908
May 14 - City College Dedication, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 621-622.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 15, 1908.
May 14 - City College Alumni, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City. Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 623-625.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 15, 1908.
May 20 - Publishers and Businessmen, New York City - Speech - text not available
According to Paul Fatout, the Aldine Association sponsored a gathering of publishers and business. Frank Doubleday was host. Mark Twain brought Henry Rogers. John D. Rockefeller, who was also there, gave information about the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, to which he had given ten million dollars. Mark Twain made a speech, but it was not reported.
May 20 - American Booksellers Association Dinner, Aldine Rooms, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 626-627.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 21, 1908.
May 25 - British Schools and Universities Club, Delmonico's New York City - "Queen Victoria-an American Tribute"
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 628-629.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 26, 1908
June 30 - Thomas Bailey Aldrich Memorial Program, Portsmouth, New Hampshire - Remarks - text not available
According to Twain, he prepared a speech titled "Aldrich as Talker and Wit," but that, oppressed by the funereal gloom of speakers who preceded him--among them, Richard Watson Gilder, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Hamilton Mabie, and Henry Van Dyke--he discarded his prepared speech in favor of nonsense. According to one observer, he began by mopping his forehead with a large white hankerchief, restoring it to a breast pocket and from another pocket pulling out a fresh handkerchief to dab his face, then a third to pat his throat--all in slow motion and without a word. Finally he said, with a quaver in his voice: "Poor Tom! Poor Tom! I hope-he isn't-as hot-as I am now." See Mark Twain's Jest Book, ed. Cyril Clemens (1963), p. 12. For Mark Twain's comments on the Portsmouth excursion, see Mark Twain in Eruption, pp. 292-303.
October (?) - Stormfield, Redding, Connecticut - Talk to Workmen - text not available
October 28 - Mark Twain Library, Redding, Connecticut - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 630-631.
1909
January 20 - New York Post Graduate Medical School and Hospital, Delmonico's, New York City - Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 631-636.
Also reported in The New York Times, January 21, 1909.
March 17 - Lotos Club Dinner for Andrew Carnegie, 110 West 57th Street, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 637-639.
Also reported in The New York Times, March 18, 1909
April 2 - Board of Trade and Business Man's Association, Norfolk, Virginia - Evening Reception - Remarks - text not available
April 3 - Henry H. Rogers Dinner, Monticello Hotel, Norfolk, Virginia - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 640-643.
Also reported in The New York Times, April 4, 1909.
April 5 - Local school students, Norfolk, Virginia - Remarks - text not available.
Twain addressed boys and girls separately. See Norfolk Virginia Ledger-Dispatch, April 5, 1909, p. 1, 13.
May 7 - William Travers Jerome Dinner, Delmonico's, New York City - Dinner Speech
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 643-644.
Also reported in The New York Times, May 8, 1909.
June 9 - St. Timothy's School Graduation, Catonsville, Maryland - Remarks at school graduation for Frances Nunnally
Published in Mark Twain Speaking, pp. 645-646 (which misidentifies the school as "Misses Tewksbury's).
September 21 - Benefit Concert for the Mark Twain Library, Stormfield, Redding, Connecticut - Remarks - text not available
Mark Twain acted as master of ceremonies. He introduced the artists: Ossip Gabrilowitsch, pianist; David Bispham, singer, Clara Clemens, contralto. Of his daughter he said, "My daughter is not so famous as these gentlemen, but she is ever so much better looking." Tickets were fifty cents, seventy-five cents, and one dollar. An audience of more than five hundred contributed $372 to the building fund. See Mark Twain, A Biography, volume 4, pp. 1521-22.
From Budd's update: See "The Lounger" by Jeanette Gilder, Putnam's Magazine, 7 (December 1909) pp. 369-70, for a summary of Twain's remarks.
